Restoring Memories
by Pixilated Pixie Princess
Summary: Sequel to Corrupted Memories: Gray comes back after a long and difficult mission and everyone is eager to welcome him home. However, something horrible is haunting him and yet he won't tell anyone what it is that seems to be slowly tearing him apart. It's up to his friends to find out what it is and save him before it's too late. (New chapter every Friday).
1. When Are You Coming Home Gray?

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Fairy Tail. This is purely a fan-made story.

* * *

Restoring Memories

Chapter One: When Are You Coming Home Gray?

* * *

Mira's lovely voice wafted through the guild as she sang, sending the guild into one of its rare moments of stillness. The only one who didn't seem to be appreciative of the entertainment was Natsu. The dragon slayer sat in a corner, his head resting on the table, staring at the steam that rose up from his beverage, barely listening to the song.

Since the weather was rather cold the master thought it would be a nice treat to have hot chocolate passed around to everyone. Natsu guessed it tasted delicious, but he didn't feel the urge to sit up and take a drink. He didn't even react when the mug had been placed in front of him, and just continued to start blankly ahead.

The guild erupted into applause as Mira finished her song, then they all immediately began demanding she sing another. The lovely woman considered this for a moment, then agree with a smile and broke into her second song.

It was then that the door was flung open and Erza entered. A few glanced over and greeted her with a hello, but most of the members still had their gazes fixed on Mira. Erza nodded her head at the greetings then froze when she spotted Natsu. Her eyes narrowed and she quickly strode over to his table.

She slammed her fist down on the table, causing some of his hot beverage to spill onto the wood. Natsu flinched slightly but other than that the fire mage didn't move.

"Isn't this the exact same spot you were in when I left Erza asked, in a low threatening voice.

Natsu only grunted in response.

"Have you moved at all today?"

He turned his head slightly to glare at her with one eye. Erza was so surprised she had to take a step back. Natsu had never glared at her before, not unless they were engaged in a sparring match. She clenched her fist in anger.

"Sulking around isn't going to bring Gray back any sooner."

Natsu turned his head away at this and growled deep in his throat.

Not much of a response, but at least it was something. She tried again "Weren't you going to train while he was gone? I bet Gray's going to be a lot stronger when he gets back from such hard mission. You're going to have to get to work if you want to catch up."

At that, Natsu was done listening to the lecture, he abruptly stood up and turned towards the door. Erza yelled various threats at him to come back, but he barely heard them. Only when he heard the master's voice speak up above the crowd did he pause and glance over his shoulder at the tiny man that had just taken the stage.

"Thank you for that lovely song, Mira," Makarov said with a smile. "Now before you all go home tonight I have news to give you."

A murmur ran through the crowd as the master cleared his throat. They fell silent again as he continued to speak.

"I just got a letter from Gildarts. He says that he's found Gray and that Gray has complicated his mission."

The cheering that ran through the hall was ecstatic. The master had to yell in order to get them to calm down enough so that he could finish.

"Unfortunately, he sustained some pretty bad injuries along the way. He's expected to make a full recovery, but it'll be a while before he's able to travel."

"So he's coming back?"

All eyes turned to the back of the hall were Natsu was standing, eyes wide and lips curled up into a small grin.

"Um," The master seemed completely off guard by the question. He struggled to find an answer. "Gildarts didn't say exactly if Gray would be coming home, but I would assume..." his voice trailed off, still unsure of the right thing to say.

"What?" Natsu growled, "Is he coming home or not?"

"I don't know." Makeover finally admitted.

Complete silence fell. Everyone just stared at the two. Natsu glared at the small man as his fists shook and the other looking downcast and staring at the fire mage in broken defeat. Finally, Natsu let out an exasperated growl before storming out of the guild.

There were about thirty seconds of silence before everyone started talking at once, bombarding the master with questions. He dismissed them all, giving no further details about Gray or his mission. This satisfied no one and the pestering continued. Erza gave the master a sympathetic look before turning to follow Natsu.

She caught up with him when he was about halfway to his home.

"Natsu!" she called when his pink head came into view, "Natsu wait!"

Natsu didn't stop, didn't even slow down. Erza quickened her pace to catch up with him. Once she was walking at his side, she turned her head to glare at him.

"You can't just lock yourself away from the world, Natsu."

"I'm not," he finally spoke to her. His voice flat and unemotional, "I've been going on plenty of missions. Same as before."

"But you hardly even talk to anyone. For the past few weeks, you've barely spent any time at the guild."

"Will you quit bugging me!" he snapped, narrowing his pointy eyes at her.

Her features softened and looked at him with such affectionate worry that his own face fell and he stared down at his feet in shame.

"Sorry." he murmured, "I guess I'm just worried."

"About Gray?"

The fire mage would rarely admit to being worried about his rival, or even say they were friends. Something to do with pride, she guessed, although it still didn't make much sense to her.

"Yeah."

She smiled at him actually admitting it, and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"But the time for worry is over. Gray completed his mission and will be coming home soon."

"You don't know that."

Erza raised an eyebrow at this. "Weren't you the one, when he first left, that kept reassuring us that he would come back? Has your faith in him really run out after so little time?"

"No!" Natsu yelled, shaking his head. "It's not that. I know he'll come back. It's just-" he choked on his next words and fell back into silence, coming to a halt in the middle of the road.

Erza let out a heavy sigh and reached both arms around to pull the other into an embrace.

"He'll still be the same, Natsu," she whispered. "Gray will still be Gray. Not matter what he goes through."

Natsu pulled away and glared at her.

"I know that." he growled, then stalked off.

She let him go. Watching sadly as he retreated into the woods where his house lay. She hoped for all their sakes that she was right.

* * *

It had been three months since Gray had left on a personal mission. He had told them very little about what he would be doing and seemed so uncertain that he would actually be able to come home that he actually quit the guild before he left. Just quit and left. No one fully understood why and he refused to let anyone come with him.

The only person he relayed the full details to was Makarov. The master seemed to understand Gray's desires and let him go. Everyone didn't know how to take this, but they still sent him off with their best wishes.

After a while of waiting everyone's worries for the ice mage increased. That was when Makarov sent Gildarts to go find Gray and make sure he was all right. He wouldn't let anyone else go and didn't tell them why. All they could do was stay at home and hope for the best.

* * *

A fourth month passed and there was no sign of Gray or any word from Gildarts, and everyone began to wonder if the ice mage really would come home. Lucy, however, remained optimistic.

"We should plan a really awesome party for when Gray gets back," she chirped as she slid over to sit next to Natsu. "Just the seven of us to celebrate the reunion of the team."

"That sounds like a lovely idea," Wendy said with a smile, "How much longer do you think it will be before Gray get's back."

Lucy shrugged.

Wendy turned to Carla, "Can you predict when Gray will return with your clairvoyance?"

The white cat shook her head. "Not right now I'm afraid."

"That's too bad. It'd be nice to know so we can get everything ready. What do you think we should do. Should we go out to eat? Or maybe would should have a picnic."

As the two girls exchanged ideas Natsu's eyes suddenly widened and he shot to his feet, sniffing the air.

"What is it?" Lucy asked, but was ignored as Natsu suddenly made a bolt for the door.

In a flash, the fire mage was out in the street and running at full speed. He hadn't run more than fifty yards, however before he came to a halt in the middle of the road. He stared straight ahead at something in the distance.

It was a young man with black hair, walking leisurely towards him.

He took another deep intake of the person's scent, just to confirm before rushing him. The other barely had time to look up and see him coming before he was tackled to the ground. He pinned him in place and grinned down at him, their face's only half a foot apart.

"What took you so bloody long, Droopy Eyes?"

He reached his hands up and grabbed hold of Gray's cheeks, pinching them playfully. Gray flinched away and shut his eyes tightly. Natsu froze. Something wasn't right. Normally Gray would have shoved him off by now. Instead, he was just lying there, stiff as a board, as if in anticipation of being punched. He examined him more closely; He was taking in deeper breaths and the distinct smell of fear was coming off him. Natsu's eyes grew large and he slowly got off him and stood to his feet.

Gray opened his eyes but didn't move to stand up. He turned his head away and took in several deep gulps of air.

"Hey, Natsu." he finally spoke, his voice shaking slightly.

Even his greeting was off. It wasn't said with his usual mockery or friendliness. It was like he was addressing an acquaintance, not someone he had known since he was a kid. Natsu growled and reached down to grab hold of Gray's arm.

He pulled him to his feet then used his other hand to grab his chin and turned his head to look into his eyes. He saw a flash of panic in them before a fist collided with his nose. He reeled back and instinctively brought his own fist up to counter attack.

"You perverted stripper!" he yelled as his fists burst into flames, "Is that any way to greet someone?"

"What? Did you want a hug or something?" Gray asked. His usually mocking tone was back and Natsu felt a bit of relief at that.

"Natsu! Natsu, why'd you run off like that?" the fire mage's flames went out when he heard Lucy calling him.

He looked down the street and saw her running in their direction, her blond hair bouncing with every step.

"Over here!" he called.

She turned her head and their direction. Her eyes nearly doubled in size when she saw Gray and her mouth fell open in a smile.

"You're back!" she squealed joyfully and rushed forward. She threw her arms around Gray and hugged him tightly. Gray nearly fell at the sudden impact but quickly regained balance. Lucy hummed in happiness and pulled him tighter.

At first Gray didn't react, only stared down at her in stunned silence. When she showed no sign of pulling away, he hugged her back awkwardly. Natsu took note of this but didn't say anything. Lucy didn't seem to mind. She pulled away, then, grabbed Gray's wrist and began dragging him towards the guild.

"Come on!" she urged, "We need to tell everyone you're back. Juvia's probably going to faint when she sees you, or melt into a puddle, or flood the entire guild with her tears. She's a bit unpredictable like that."

Gray reluctantly let the blonde lead him away, leaving Natsu to stare at his retreating back. He didn't move but kept staring, trying to process what had just happened. Gray was back and yet he didn't seem very happy to be here. He felt a tinge of fear clench his heart, but he shook it off.

"Wait for me!" he called and ran to catch up with them.

* * *

The minute Gray entered the guild he was surrounded by its members. Everyone came running up to him, welcoming him back with smiles, cheers, and endless questions. Wendy gave him a warm hug and he returned it a bit less awkwardly than he had with Lucy.

Lucy quickly realized that she was mistaken about Juvia being there. The blue haired water mage had gone off on a three day trip with Gajeel the day before. Apparently she was off looking for a welcome home gift for Gray and had dragged the iron dragon slayer along for 'a man's impute'.

Natsu watched Gray closely as people came up to him. It was clear to him that he was on edge, but no one else seemed to notice. He tried shrugging off the worrying thoughts that kept coming to him. Maybe Gray was just tired and would be back to his old self in a few days. Or maybe he was just a little unsure how everyone would react considering he did quit the guild before he left.

They would have stopped everything then and there and had him a welcome home celebration if it weren't for the fact that most of the guild members were out on jobs at the moment, it being the middle of the afternoon. Erza also was out on a job and they couldn't have a proper welcome home party without her. So they put it off until evening.

"Didn't Gildarts come back with you?" Wendy asked Gray.

"He traveled with me for about half the way, then he said he had a quest to complete somewhere else, saying that picking me up was just a side mission for him. So we parted ways." Gray explained.

"So surprise there, that guy can't seem to keep his feet in place, one minute before running off again." someone commented.

Gray shrugged, then let out a tired sigh, "I'm glad to be home and all, but I'd really like to get some rest before the big party tonight. I'll see you all later."

With a wave of his hand, he headed for the door. He was just a step away from leaving when Makarov stopped him. He called him into his office, asking for a talk. Gray agreed with a tired smile and followed the old man out of the room.

Once he was gone Natsu went up to Lucy and whispered into her ear.

"Something's off about Gray."

"So you noticed it too?" she whispered back.

"Yeah, what do you think happened to him?" Natsu asked, grateful that at least one other person had noticed.

"He might just be tired like he said." she shrugged, "we shouldn't go jumping to conclusions."

"But that's not how he acts when he's tired." Natsu insisted, "Something's up."

"I don't know." Lucy sighed, "But we should wait until he's had time to relax before we question him about it."

"Fine." Natsu reluctantly agreed. He wanted to barge into the master's office right then and begin the interrogation, but the little amount common sense he possessed told him that Lucy was right; he'd just have to wait.

* * *

Gray sat in a chair opposite the guild master, his shoulder slumped and his head hung.

"How are you feeling my boy?" Makarov asked. Concern was etched into his features.

Gray let out a heavy sigh. "Did you get Gildart's letter?" he asked.

"I did."

"Then you know what happened to me?"

Makarov's eyes widened, "But he said that there was a way they could be fixed."

Gray shook his head. "They can't," he choked.

Makarov stood there in silence for a long moment, taking in what he had been told. Finally, he took a step forward and reached a hand out to the other.

"Please don't get too close," Gray whispered, looking up slightly.

The old man froze, then took a step back, outstretched hand trembling slightly.

"Sorry." Gray apologized, "It's just... I need time."

Makarov slowly nodded.

"I'm here for you whenever you need me." he reassured him.

"Okay." was all Gray said before standing to his feet. "Please don't tell anyone else yet. Like I said, I need time."

"If that's what you want."

Gray thanked him, then turned and left. The old man collapsed into the chair he had just been sitting in. He put his head in his hands, shoulders shaking slightly.

"What am I going to do?"

* * *

A/N: This story is a sequel to my other story 'Corrupted Memories'. You can go ahead and read it if you want to find out what happened to Gray, or you can wait and leave it a mystery and find out when Natsu and the rest discover it. And you don't need to feel the need to read the first story. I'm going to try to write this so you won't have to in order to enjoy it.

And yes, I am keeping the tradition of posting a chapter every Friday.


	2. A Worrying Discovery

Chapter 2: A Worrying Discovery

* * *

"Happy, you in here?" Natsu called out as he entered the cabin that he and the cat shared..

No answer.

He looked around until he found his small friend, lying on the floor. His tiny tummy looked like it had doubled in size and a moan of suffering drawled out of his slack jawed mouth.

"You ate too much didn't you." Natsu huffed, picking up the small body and taking him to his bed.

"Your fault." Happy moaned out, "You were the one that gave me those three giant mackerels."

"You didn't have to eat them all at once."

Happy only moaned again as the covers were pulled over him.

"You better get well before tonight, so you can come to the celebration." Natsu said with a grin.

Happy opened one eye in confusion.

"Gray's back. It's a welcome home party, of course." he stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

If the blue cat hadn't been weighed down by the contents of his stomach, he probably would have leaped into the air with excitement. Instead, he gave Natsu his biggest grin.

"I'll tell my digestive system to hurry up."

* * *

"Hey Gray" Cana slurred as she staggered up to the ice mage and leaning heavily on him, "When you going to tell us the reason you ran off?"

"I already said I can't answer that yet." he said while cringing away from the drunken woman. He had already been asked that question a total of twenty-six times that evening and had given the same answer to each one.

"You're no fun." Cana whined.

She let go of him, waited a minute until she was steady on her feet, then moved back to the bar and ordered another barrel.

The welcome party was in full swing. Everyone was laughing, eating, drinking, and all around having a ball.

Gray breathed a sigh of relief, then moved to sit on one of the bar stools. Mira took note of this and walked over and set a drink in front of him.

"You seem kind of stressed." she said with a smile.

"I'm fine. Still pretty tired though. Couldn't get much sleep in." he explained before taking a sip.

She nodded in understanding "I'm glad you're here anyways, tired or not."

"Thanks." he said, putting a small amount of mirth in his voice.

She smiled at him before moving on to refilling everyone's glasses.

Gray downed the rest of his drink before standing up and heading towards the door. He stared out at everyone. Somehow a fight had broken out between Elfman and Natsu, their brawl distracted everyone for a moment, giving him the change to slip out into the night without notice.

* * *

"Is Erza back yet?" Lucy asked, glancing around the guild.

"I haven't seen her." Wendy replied. She was sitting on one of the benches with Carla resting on her lap.

"I wonder if she ran into trouble. What was her mission again?"

"Probably not." Carla said, "It's more likely that she stopped at a dress shop on the way back."

Lucy had to agree. Still, she wished everyone from her team could be there to welcome Gray back. It just wasn't the same without the red head's loud voice booming above the crowd. She let out a sigh and scooted in next to Wendy on the bench.

Just then the wooden doors swung open and the redhead herself entered.

"Must we have a giant party every other week!" she yelled, immediately gaining the attention of everyone in the room, "Not that I do not enjoy our merry making, but it drains all our energies for the next day and we have too many requests pouring for that."

"B-but this is a welcome home party, Erza." Elfman stammered. The big man was clutching at his freshly bruised cheek.

Erza froze for a second, then her face it up. "Gray's back?".

Everyone nodded and cheered in confirmation.

"Gray!" she called out, her gaze darting around the room in search of her old friend.

It grew very quiet as everyone else joined her in looking for Gray.

"He's not here?" Someone said.

"Where did he go?" Erza demanded. "Did anyone see him leave?"

There was a series of negative mutters as everyone glanced at the people around them. Erza huffed, then ran back outside.

"Come one Natsu!" Lucy called. She quickly spotted her pink haired friend sitting at one of the booths nursing his split lip. She grabbed his arm and hauled him after Erza.

* * *

"Can you pick up his scent, Natsu?" Erza asked as she and Lucy followed behind the dragon slayer.

Natsu sniffed the air, then nodded. "This way!" he called and started off.

To their surprise, they only had to travel three blocks before they found Gray, slumped over on a bench, looking out into the night, seemingly oblivious to the world. He looked up when he heard them coming and stared at them blankly.

"Gray, you scared us! Why'd you just leave like that?" Lucy asked.

"Sorry." he said with a yawn. "My head was starting to hurt so I came out here to get away from the noise for a little bit. I feel better now so-"

His sentence was cut short as two strong arms pulled him off the bench and into an embrace.

"H-hey, Erza." he stammered.

Erza didn't say anything, and hugged him tighter.

"Is that all you have to say?" he growled. "Aren't you happy to see her again?"

Erza turned her head to look over at Natsu without loosening her grip on Gray.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her brow furrowed, "Of course he's happy."

She turned her head back to look at Gray. Her eyes widened as she took in his features more clearly. He really did look tired. His eyes were sunken in and he was cringing slightly as if in pain.

"Gray, are you all right?" she asked.

"I'm fine." he mumbled and pushed himself out of her embrace.

Erza let him go, but kept her gaze fixed on him.

Gray turned his head away. "Maybe not actually. I think I'll go home and rest. Tell everyone I said good night will you."

With that, he turned and started walking away.

"Wait a minute! You can't just walk away from this!" Natsu started to rush after him, but Lucy grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Let him go." she whispered and Natsu reluctantly complied.

"Good night!" Erza called after the ice mage. She then turned and glared at Natsu. "That was extremely rude! You better be prepared to give him a good apology first thing tomorrow."

"Can't you tell he's been acting strange?" Natsu growled in exasperation.

"He's been acting tired, which is expected after coming home from such a difficult mission," Erza said, putting her hands on her hips, "And since when did you pay any kind of attention to these sorts of things."

"What's that supposed to me?"

"She means you don't normally pick up on peoples moods." Lucy explained.

"That's not true. I can pick up moods just fine." Natsu defended, "And Gray is definitely in some kind of funk."

"He's just tired, Natsu." Erza insisted, "We should send Wendy over to her place in the morning to see if she can make him feel better."

Natsu growled out in frustrations, clenching his fists and holding back the urge to punch something.

"We should probably go back and tell everyone he went on home." Lucy said with a sigh.

They all turned around to head back, but Natsu could help glancing back at the way the ice mage had gone, a distrustful look in his eyes.

* * *

Gray shot straight out of bed, sweat pouring down his back and breath coming in hard. He shook his head, trying to force away the vivid images in his dream, but they refused to leave.

He heard a knock coming from the other room and realized what it was that must have woken him up. He quickly checked his state of dress and threw a shirt on over his naked torso before heading to the front door and swinging it open.

"Good morning Gray-san." Wendy greeted him with a small bow.

"Erza-san said that you weren't feeling well so she asked Wendy to come over and check on you." Carla explained. The white cat was standing just behind the girl.

Gray nodded slowly, as if he wasn't that what was going on before him was real. He moved aside to let the girl in, then went over to sit on the sofa.

"Well, this place sure is a mess." Carla tutted, glancing around at the various objecst that had been scattered about."

"Sorry, I was looking for something." Gray explained, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"What were you looking for?" Wendy asked.

"My journal."

"I didn't know you kept a journal." The girl said in surprise. "You don't seem like the journal keeping person." she admitted.

Gray's face fell at that. "You think so?"

"Whether you have one or not you're going about looking for it in the wrong way." Carla informed him, "If you want to find something you need to clean your home, not trash it. The thing you want will get lost in all the clutter."

"That makes sense."

A long silence fell between them as no one knew what to say next. Wendy stiffly moved to sit down on the cushion next to him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm-" he hesitated, "I'm just tired."

Wendy nodded. "I have a spell that can help ease fatigue. Would you like me to use it."

Again he hesitated, then nodded.

The girl smiled at him, "It' be best if you lie down."

She stood up so he could have the whole sofa to himself and he twisted his body until he was lying long ways across the cushions. He closed his eyes and she set to work. He stretched out hand started to glow as her magic began to seep into him, easing his tired muscles.

She started down at his feet and slowly worked her way upward. When she reached his head, she suddenly froze. Her magic faded and she quickly pulled her hands away, a look of confusion on her face.

"Something wrong?" Gray asked, opening his eyes.

Wendy shook her head, but her expression didn't change. "That's all I can do." she said, "I'm sorry."

"No problem." he smiled at her, "That you. I feel much better now."

Wendy bowed again, "Well... goodbye then." she hurriedly said then walked over to the door and left.

* * *

"What was that about?" Carla asked was they made their way over to Fairy Tail.

"I-I," The girl stammered, "I don't know. But for some reason I couldn't touch his head. I could tell his mind was very strained, but my magic couldn't enter it." she shook her head, "I don't know how to explain it."

When they got back to the guild, Lucy, Erza, Happy, and Natsu were already there, waiting for them.

"How is Gray?" Erza asked.

"Um... he's doing fine." Wendy mumbled.

"There's something wrong with him isn't there?" Natsu interjected.

"Natsu." Lucy hissed that her friend's lack of tact.

Wendy sighed, then nodded her head. "

"I knew it. What it is?" he asked, taking a few steps closer to her.

"He," Wendy gulped before continuing, "He was really stressed, and his mind seemed to particularly be under a lot of strain. When I tried to use my magic to help ease the strain it was under I couldn't get in; it had no effect. I don't know why that could be, I can't make sense of it."

She bowed her head in shame. "I'm sorry I wasn't more helpful."

Natsu gave her a reassuring grin and patted her head, "You've been plenty helpful."

He then straightened up to glare at Erza. "See, I told you something was wrong with him."

"All right, all right." Erza said in defeat, "So what do we do now?"

"Isn't it obvious? We go over there and beat the answers out of him."

"That's a terrible idea." Lucy snapped, grabbing hold of Natsu's arm in case he decided to take off right then, "Can't you tell how uncomfortable he is around you."

"Interrogations aren't supposed to be comfortable." Natsu protested. "Ow!"

"Enough!" Erza said after bopping him over the head, "We shall approach this like civilized people. Gray is our friend after all. If there is truly something bothering him, then he'll come to us eventually. We should at least give him a day or two before trying to force anything out of him."

"Erza's right, Natsu," Lucy assured him, "Gray will come around."

"But he didn't even tell us why he left in the first place." he growled, "And we don't even know what any of this is so how can you say he'll come around? At least someone should confront him."

Erza shook her head at this, but Lucy seemed to consider it.

"If someone's going to confront him than it can't be you." she said.

"What do you mean?" Erza asked.

"And it shouldn't be you either, Erza." She started to explain, "He seems to be most on edge around you two. At least that's what I've seen from the few times you've interacted since he got back."

"So who would you suggest we send?" Natsu asked, irritation clearly evident.

"It should be someone who's not threatening. He seemed fine with you wasn't he Wendy?" Lucy asked.

Wendy nodded, "Yes, but I don't think I would be very good at interrogation."

"Great, then who else are we going to get?" Natsu asked

"I could do it!" Happy chimed, jumping up and down on the floor, eager to help out in any way he could.

"Good idea." Natsu said with a grin.

"I'm not so sure about this." Lucy muttered.

"It'll be fine," Happy assured her. "Gray's my friend too."

"But I don't think Gray has seen you since he got back. Weren't you out on a solo job then? We can't predict how he'll react."

"And how do you think he's going to react?" Erza asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I don't know." Lucy huffed, "Maybe it'll be fine. Go ahead and try. But we should wait a day at least. He only got back just yesterday."

"A day then." Erza nodded.

* * *

The next day, Happy went over to where Gray lived and knocked on his door. He could hear Natsu rustling in the bushes behind him. He had insisted on tagging along to make sure nothing happened.

He waited for over a minute and was beginning to wonder if the ice mage was even home before the door finally swung open to reveal a very disgruntled looking Gray.

"Good morning!" Happy chirped, raising up a paw in greeting.

Gray stared down at him and blinked several times.

"Who're you?"


	3. Clues

Chapter 3: Clues

* * *

"Who're you?"

"I'm Happy!" Happy replied instantly then suddenly froze as the meaning of that question dawned on him. "D-don't' you recognize me?" he stammered, looking up at Gray with wide eyes.

Gray rubbed his eyes, then blinked at Happy several more times. "You say your name's Happy?"

The blue cat nodded.

Gray sighed and shook his head. It might have been Happy's imagination, but he thought he saw the ice mage smile for a moment.

"Sorry, do you need something?"

"Um... no" Happy hadn't really planned out what he was going to say and the strange created he had received had caught him off guard.

"Then why are you here?"

"Natsu wanted me to come over." he said truthfully.

Happy thought he saw Gray cringe slightly at the mention of his friend's name but action was over before he could confirm it.

"And what does Natsu want?"

"Ah..." Happy glanced over that the bush where the fire mage was hiding. It would awkward to talk to Gray about his friend when he was within earshot. Plus, he was afraid he would leap out at them at any moment.

Without waiting for an invitation he hopped passed Gray and into his home.

"Wow, your place is really clean." he observed as he made himself comfortable on the sofa, "This might even be cleaner than Lucy apartment, at least before Natsu comes over to visit."

"I didn't say you could come in." Gray said, a little miffed.

Happy put his paws up in a sigh of peace. "I'm sorry, Natsu's hiding outside and I didn't want him to hear."

"What?" Gray immediately went to the window and glanced out. He looked out just long enough to see a bit of pink sticking out from the shrubbery across the street, then turned back around to face the blue cat.

"What is going on?" he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest, "And what is it you don't want Natsu to hear?"

"I know he probably wouldn't want me to tell you this so don't tell him okay?" Happy pleaded.

Gray sighed and dropped his arms. "Okay." he agreed, then went over and sat next to him, "What is it?"

"It's just..." he paused, still conflicted on whether or not he should say it, "Natsu's been really worried about you. Ever since you left. Everyone has, but I think he's taken it the hardest."

Gray's eyebrows rose ever so slightly at this, but the cat didn't notice and continued talking.

"Then you came back and I thought everything would go back to normal. But now he's even more worried than before. He says you've been acting funny and he thinks something's bothering you." Happy then looked up at him with pleading eyes. "He really wishes you would tell him what's wrong. Or at least tell someone."

Gray's eyes narrowed, "There's nothing wrong with me." he said flatly, "You people jump to conclusions too quickly. I'm just tired, that's all. Give me a few days before you go making up stories."

"Sorry." Happy quickly said, "Sorry."

Gray ignored him and stood to his feet.

"You can go now." he stated.

Happy watched him walk over to his closet and pull out a traveling back, then he disappeared into his bedroom. He listened to him rummage around in there for a while before slowly getting to his feet and heading out the door.

As soon as he stepped out into the cold morning air. he was snatched up by a pair of warm hands.

"What'd he say?" Natsu demanded, shaking him a little.

"He said there was nothing wrong with him and that you were being paranoid." Happy quickly answered.

"But why didn't he recognize you?"

"I don't know, I didn't ask."

Natsu growled in frustration. then set him on top of his head and began walking towards the guild.

"We need to go tell the girls what happened, maybe they'll be able to put this all together." he muttered.

* * *

"This is very odd." Erza muttered, resting her chin in her hand, "Why would he not recognize Happy and then say nothing was wrong?"

"He's obviously keeping something from us." Natsu growled. He had chosen one of the corner tables to do his sulking. Lucy, Erza, Carla, and Wendy had joined him and were going over Happy's story.

"Maybe he has amnesia." Lucy suggested.

"Amnesia?" Erza looked up at the blond, "Well, that would explain why he didn't recognize Happy."

"And it would explain why he's been acting so strange around us." Lucy added, "If you consider it from his point of view it would be a bunch of stranger acting all chumming with him. That would set anyone on edge."

"That still doesn't explain why he wouldn't tell any of us." Natsu grumbled.

"True." Erza admitted, "It's not the kind of thing you can keep secret."

"But how come he recognized all you guys and not me?" Happy whined.

"If he really does have amnesia, then Gildarts probably told him all about us." Lucy hypothesized, "I guess he just left you out, Happy."

The blue cat's face fell and he went to go snuggle up against Natsu for comfort.

"I think it's more than that." Wendy finally spoke up timidly, "Considering what happened when I tried to heal his head, I don't think that would have happened if he just had normal amnesia."

"I know!" Natsu's head suddenly snapped up. "Since Gildarts would have known, then he must have written about it in that letter he sent."

"Of course!" Lucy grinned.

"Then we should go question the master about this." Erza agreed, standing to her feet.

"Um... I was thinking would would sneak into his office and try and find the letter." Natsu said.

Erza narrowed her eyes at him, "You know that is against the guild rules to go in there when the master is away." she growled.

"Why is that?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, he made the rule after Natsu and Gray trashed the place in one of their fights." Erza explained casually, her threatening demeanor vanished when she glanced over at Lucy.

"We were still kids, give me a break." Natsu muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"In any case, sneaking around is out of the question. We should just ask the master directly."

Natsu sighed and muttered his agreement.

"Where is the master?" Wendy asked.

They glanced around the hall but didn't see the old man anywhere.

"Hey Mira!" Natsu called.

Mirajane glanced up at them from behind the counter. "Yes?"

"Is Gramps around?"

"He had errands to run and won't be back until this evening." she called back.

"Thanks!"

"So we have to wait?" Lucy whined.

"You can wait, but I'm not." Natsu insisted. "Like it or not, I'm searching that office."

"You do that and I'll paint the guild floor red with your blood." Erza growled.

"Fine, then I'll go over to Gray's and beat an explanation out of him myself."

"I told you not to threaten him." Lucy hissed.

Natsu glared at both of them, then slumped down in his seat.

"We'll just have to be patient and wait for the master's return." Erza said, "Why don't you go over to the board and pick a day long job to keep your mind off of things.

Natsu huffed, but stood up anyways and went over to look at the board. He had just picked out a decently quick job when the guild doors were opened and they were all treated to the cheery smile of Juvia Lockser.

"Juvia is back!" she chirped as she strode inside, "Has there been any more news from Gray-sama."

Behind her a very ticked off looking Gajeel was dragging his feet.

"That is the last time I ever do the crazy woman a favor." he muttered under his breath.

Lucy grinned as she stood up and strode over to the water mage, eager to tell her the good news.

"Juvia, you're going to be so happy to hear this. Gray's back."

"What! When?" Juvia burst out. She then hurriedly looked around the room to she if Gray was there. "Where is Gray-sama."

"He's at his home right now. He got back two days ago." Lucy answered without realizing what she had just done, "Wait, don't go over there yet. I need to tell you something first."

But it was too late; the water mage had already bolted out the door. Lucy groaned out her frustrations before darting after her. She had know idea how Gray would react to Juvia climbing all over him, or how Juvia would react to Gray's odd behavior.

Juvia ran like Erza had found out she had eaten the last piece of cake. Lucy had grown a substantial amount of leg muscle since joining Fairy Tail but that wasn't enough to even keep the water mage in sight.

With an aching side, she finally made it to Gray's home. To her surprise, Juvia had not gone in and was just standing be the door, waiting.

"Juvia, I need to tell you something before you see Gray." Lucy gasped out between pants.

Juvia turned her head to look at her, "Gray-sama isn't answering his door." she stated as if she hadn't even heard what the blond had said.

Lucy looked up at her, perplexed, "But, Happy was just there."

She went up to the door and knocked on it three times. No response. She tried peeping through the window but couldn't see anything. She couldn't hear any noises from inside either. As she was listening with her ear to the window ,she heard a clicking noise. She turned her head in the direction of the noise and her mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Gray gave you a key?" she gasped.

"Um... yes." Juvia hesitantly answered.

Lucy closed her mouth, now just realizing how unsurprising that Juvia would have a key to Gray's front door.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia called as she stepped inside, "Juvia heard you were back home."

The place was dark, silent, and empty. Gray was not home.

Juvia cocked her head and looked over at Lucy who was still standing in the doorway. "Did he go out on a mission?"

Lucy shook her head. "We would have seen him at the guild then. Maybe he's out shopping for groceries or something."

At the mention of groceries Juvia's face lighted up with an idea. "Juvia will make Gray-sama lunch for when he comes back."

"Um... I don't think that's such a good idea." Lucy confessed.

"Why not?" Juvia asked, puffing out her cheeks and giving Lucy an accusing glare. "Is love rival going to try and get rid of me so she can make Gray-sama's lunch?"

"No!" Lucy quickly said, throwing her hands up. "It's just that, Gray's been acting a bit odd since he got here and it might be best if we give him a little space for the time being."

Juvia's glare dropped and she stared at her in puzzlement. "Gray-sama is not himself? Is he sick?"

Lucy shook her head, "Come with me. I'll explain everything on the way back to the guild."

Juvia took one last look around Gray's home before reluctantly agreeing and following Lucy out.

* * *

As much as Natsu did not enjoy getting his blood splattered all over the guild floor, he was also never one for patients.

"Natsu, you're going to get caught, Erza's just outside the guild." Happy warned, as his friend sniffed around the guild master's office.

"She's talking with Juvia and Lucy. We've got a good twenty minutes." Natsu assured him, "Girls can rattle on for hours."

He began opening the drawers of Makarov's desk, thoroughly sniffing the contents of each one.

"Will Gildart's scent even still be on the letter?" Happy asked.

Natsu hissed at the cat to quiet down, then devoted all his attention back to his search. After several minutes he was rewarded for his efforts; finding the letter crumpled up at the bottom of the waist basket. He smoothed out the paper and quickly read the words that Gildarts had scribbled down.

' _Dear Master Makarov,_

 _Mission complete. Found Gray just after he had finished up his own mission. He was in pretty bad shape when I found him and it'll take a while before he's recovered. Thankfully, I don't think he'll sustain any long lasting injuries._

 _That's only speaking physically, however. I regret to say that his memories have been corrupted just like he feared. However, there is a man here that might possibly be able to fix them. We'll have to wait and see if this is true._

 _Gray is fully aware of what has happened to him, and seems to be in control. I'll do my best to help him in any way I can._

 _Till we see each other again,_

 _Gildarts Clive_

Natsu stared at the letter in stunned silence. Gray's memories have been corrupted? What did that even mean? It deferentially didn't sound like a simple case of amnesia. His stomach clenched at the possible implications the letter gave.

"Is that it?"

Happy's voice brought him out of his thoughts and he quickly shoved the letter back in the trash.

"No." he said, "I don't think it's here. Gramps must have burned it or something."

He then moved to leave and the blue cat followed, with worried eyes staring at his retreating back.

* * *

A/N: I have estimated that this will be story will be around 45,000 words and 12 chapters, although it'll probably end up being longer than that.


	4. Tell Me Everything

Chapter Four: Tell Me Everything

* * *

Lyon breathed a heavy sigh as he turned the door knob to his apartment. After such a back breaking mission, he was relived to finally be able to go home and rest. He shrugged his coat off and set it on a hook before stepping into his living room. He suddenly froze as his eyes fell upon an uninvited visitor sitting on his sofa.

Gray was sitting with is elbows resting on his knees, staring blankly at the coffee table. He didn't even look up when Lyon came up beside him.

The older mage observed the other features carefully before speaking. He looked exhausted, his skin was growing dark under the eyes, and his eyelids drooped. There was something else that was off about he but he couldn't quite place it.

"Gray?" he asked softly, "Are you all right?"

"Lyon, tell me what you know about me?"

"What?" it was such an odd question that it caught Lyon off guard.

Gray turned his head and looked him in the eye. "I want you to tell me everything you know about me. Starting from the beginning."

"Why would you ask me something like that?" Lyon demanded. Now he was sure that there was something wrong with Gray.

"I just want to confirm something. Tell me everything, then I'll answer your questions." Gray said, his voice was softer than normal and slightly strained, "Please."

As much as he wanted answers right then, Lyon agreed. He sat down on a chair opposite the sofa and began to talk.

"Well..." his words suddenly stuck in his throat as the memory of finding the young Gray under the rubble of his desolated home town flashed through his mind. He looked into Gray's expectant eyes, swallowed, then continued. "Me and Ur found you after your home had been destroyed. Ur took you in-"

"I need more detail than that." Gray interrupted.

Lyon raised his eyebrows at this, "What do you want? A day by bay replay?"

"Yes."

Lyon narrowed his eyes at him. Gray stared back with equal determination. Lyon's glare broke and he gave him. Taking in a deep breath, he started over.

"The place was completely desecrated. There was so much death you could smell it in the air. I helped Ur search for survivors and I spotted your head sticking up out of the ruble and called Ur over. You were crying and mutter about how you would never forgive Deliora. After that we helped you dig graves for everyone. You were quiet the whole time. When we had finished Ur asked if you wanted to come stay with us and you agreed."

After that it got easier for Lyon as he recounted their training together. Then he caught up to Ur's sacrifice and he felt the words start to stick in his throat again but he forced them out. Gray listened quietly to the whole thing, his face barely showing any emotion.

When he had finished recounting that day Gray put his hands up to stop him.

"That's enough." he said, then smiled at him, "Thank you."

"Why did I have to do that?" Lyon said, growling out his frustration and embarrassment.

"I just wanted to make sure that everything I knew about you was still the same." Gray explained.

Lyon raised an eyebrow at this, "Why wouldn't they be?"

Gray shook his head, "Please don't ask just yet. It's the middle of the night. Let's sleep and talk in the morning."

"You're the one that came asking me all these questions at such an hour." Lyon growled, clearly miffed that Gray was trying to get out of his explanation.

"Well, you're the one that came home so late." he retorted as he stretched himself out on the sofa.

Lyon considered pressing the matter, but he also was beat tired. He decided to let it slide and went up to his room and fell into bed, taking off his shoes and shirt on the way.

* * *

Lyon sat straight up in bed. Something had awoken him, but he wasn't sure what. A moment later he got his answer as a muffled cry reached his ears. He leaped out of bed and hurried to the living room where he found Gray tossing and turning on the floor. In a flash he was at the others side as another cry escaped him.

"Gray! Wake up." he ordered, lifting the younger mage's upper body and shaking it.

Gray's eyes flew open and his mouth opened in a gasp. Lyon stared into his unseeing eyes as he panted for air. Sweat poured off his brow and he was shivering slightly. After a long moment Gray snapped back to reality. He looked into Lyon's eyes for a second before his head fell forward and his shoulders slumped.

Lyon grasped hold of him firmly to keep him from toppling to the ground as Gray seemed to lose the strength to keep himself upright.

He stayed like that in silence, waiting for Gray to speak, listening to the ticking of the clock on the wall. He felt Gray shudder before lifting his head.

"Sorry." he mumbled, "Didn't mean to wake you up."

He pushed Lyon away, then sit back down on the sofa.

"What was that about?"

He thought that perhaps his recounting of Gray's past may have brought on the nightmare, but something told him that was not the case.

Gray leaned forward, resting his head in his hands.

"I'd rather wait until morning to talk." he whispered.

"I'm afraid to leave this till morning." Lyon replied honestly, "What is wrong, Gray? I'm not going back to bed until you tell me."

He pulled himself onto the sofa as well and sat so that he was facing directly at Gray. "You can trust me. I'll do everything I can to help you."

Gray shut his eyes tightly for a few seconds, taking in a deep breath. He nodded slowly before opening them again.

"Okay."

* * *

Carefully putting one foot in front of the other, Natsu balanced on the fence railing as he walked across it. Reaching the end he hopped down and continued to walk normally over to the ice mage's house. Happy flew next to him, keeping up with his wide steps

He could of confronted Makarov with what he had found out, but then he would have been punished for snooping around the old man's office. No, he'd leave the questioning of him to Erza, who was no doubt doing so at that very moment. The master had gotten back very late last night and so they had decided to wait until morning to ask him about Gray.

But why ask that old man when you could ask Gray himself. Natsu was done dancing around the issue. The words he read made him suspect that something was seriously wrong with his rival and he wasn't going to let this rest. Action needed to be taken.

He strode up to the ice mage's front door and gave it three loud knocks. Two seconds passed and there was no answer so he knocked again. Still no answer. He peeped through he window, but he curtains were drawn.

He huffed in frustration and contemplated whether or not he should kick the door down. Just then he heard a crash coming from the back. He bolted around the side the house, Happy following in toe. Suddenly he froze when he saw Juvia lying in an awkward position on the ground just above an open window.

"Juvia? What are you doing here?" he asked as he took the girl by the arm and helped her up.

"Juvia? Juvia wasn't doing anything. She was just out for a walk." the water mage gushed out, clearly nervous.

"In Gray's back yard?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

Juvia stared at him for a moment, then hung her head in shame. "Juvia was so exited to give Gray-sama his present that she came over to give it to him but he wasn't home. Then Juvia thought she should leave it inside for him, then she heard someone knocking on the door and thought perhaps Gray-sama had come back. Juvia didn't want to be caught snooping around Gray-sama's house so she tried jumping out the window, but her skirt caught and she fell."

"Why would Gray be knocking on his own door?" Natsu pointed out the flaws in Juvia's reasoning.

Juvia's pail cheeks flushed red at this.

"Never mind." Natsu huffed, "Do you have any idea where Gray might be?"

She shook her head, "He wasn't here last night either."

"He wasn't?" It was Happy who spoke this time. Natsu glanced down at his friend who seemed to be searching his mind for something.

"What is it?" he asked, "Do you think you know where he had gone? You were the one that saw him last."

The cat cocked his head to the side and hummed in contemplation. His face suddenly brightened when it finally came to him.

"Gray must have gone on a trip." he concluded.

"A trip? How did you figure that?"

"Well, just before I left, he seemed to be packing for something." Happy explained.

Natsu's eyes narrowed, "What does that stripper think he's doing? He just gets back then runs off again?"

"Maybe Gray-sama just went out on a mission." Juvia said.

"But then we would have seen him at the guild hall, picking up a request."

"Can't you track his scent?" Happy wondered.

Natsu shook his head, "Maybe."

He turned around and headed back to the front of the house, prepared to follow Gray's scent until he could smell it no more. Happy flew off back towards home, leaving him to his task.

To his surprise, he was able to trace it for over half a mile. Once the trail ran cold, he looked up to gauge which direction he was headed in. South South West; what was there in that direction that Gray would have a hankering of visiting?

Natsu would be proud to admit that he had a very good layout of the land inside his head, due to the fact that he was constantly traveling, and normally by foot. He rattled of various places that came to mind before one finally stood out to him.

"Lamia Scale." he muttered.

Destination now set, he took off again.

* * *

"Master, I need to speak with you." Erza said, looking the small man straight in the eye to convey how serious this was.

Makarov drowned the last of his drink, then turned his full attention onto her. "What's on your mind?"

"Not here, privately." she elaborated.

He gave her an odd look, but nodded all the same and hopped down off the counter. Erza followed him into his office and they both sat down opposite each other.

"Now tell me what's bothering you."

"It's about Gray."

The old man turned sober at the mentioned name. "I see." he muttered, "So you've noticed."

Erza nodded, "I take it you have as well? Gray's clearly not himself and I'm worried about him."  
He nodded.

"Then do you know what's wrong with him? From what we've observed, we think he might have amnesia. Is this correct."

"In a way it is." he confirmed, his voice low.

"In a way?" Erza repeated, sounding slightly desperate, "What else is there? What happened to him that would put him in such a state?"

Makarov shook his head, "That is not something for me to answer. Gray did not want you to know, not yet anyways. It's his decision to make. I'm sure he'll open up to you eventually. Give him time."

Erza stared at him in stunned silence. She let out a frustrated breath, then turned his head to the side, "My friend is obviously hurting and you expect me to do nothing?" she asked, her voice strained, "You know how long it takes for Gray to open up about these things. How many years was it before he finally told us about his past? And yet if you had pressed him to tell you at any point sooner how would it have ended?" Makarov questioned, his eyes narrowing at her, "You cannot force people to open up before they're ready, but you can help them in the meantime."

"How?"

"Same as you have always done. Be there for him, be his friend, and show him how much you care."

She let out a sigh, seeing the truth in his words.

"I understand." she said, bowing her head, "I'll do as you say and pass your words on to Natsu and Lucy."

Makarov thanked her with a smile and she turned to leave.

* * *

Lyon listened with baited breath as Gray told his story.

He had gone off to Isvan to fight against a great evil magic that was changing the entire populous for the worse. Apparently it was using their memories and changing them so that they would think of each other as enemies and turn against one another.

Gray knew that if he went there to help he would risk having his own memories be effected. That was why he went alone, not wanting to risk having him turn on his friends. But, even after taking every precaution he could think to take, his memories had still been hijacked, and all he knew about Fairy Tail had been changed into something horrific.

"I thought that if I came back it would help." Gray admitted, "that if I could see the truth about what everyone was really like it would make the lies I've been stuck with less believable." He shook his head with frustration, "But it didn't, it only made things worse."

Lyon felt his stomach clench as Gray chocked on his own words. He balled his hands into fists, wishing he could go out there and find the man that did this to Gray and make him pay. But Gray had already handled with the issue, there was no vengeance left to take.

"Does the rest of Fairy Tail know about this?" Lyon finally asked.

"Only Gramps and Gildarts." Gray shook his head and shut his eyes tightly, "I can't tell the others yet. I can barely even stand to carry on a conversation with them yet, let alone answer all the questions they pester me with."

"I see." was all Lyon could think to say.

There was a long moment of silence between them, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Lyon spoke again.

"Can you tell me again, how this memory magic works."

Gray looked up at him, "Yes." he said dubiously, "although I'm not an expert on it, I can give you a summary of how it works.

Lyon gave him the go ahead and Gray delved into what he remembered about the magic that was used to warp his mind. Lyon listened carefully, memorizing each detail.

"So, do you have an idea of how to fix me?" Gray asked once he was done, clearly not expecting a good answer.

Lyon shook his head and Gray let out a disappointed sigh.

"Is that all the questions you have for me because I'd like to go back to sleep." Gray said, not hiding the tiredness in his voice in the least.

"You don't have to ask me twice. I feel about as tired as you look." Lyon said with a slight smile.

Gray waited for the other to leave, but Lyon didn't move, just yet, continuing to stare at him.

"What?" Gray asked, trying to force out the question that Lyon clearly wanted to ask.

"Are you going to go back?"

Gray's eyes widened a bit at the question, then he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I don't want to." he admitted, "I knew there my friends and all, but I feel like I'm suffocating ever time I'm near them."

"You can stay here if you like." Lyon offered.

Gray shook his head, "No, I need to go back. Things aren't going to get any better if I keep running away."

Lyon nodded in understanding. Finally, he stood up and went back to his own bed. The next morning when he got up Gray was already gone.

* * *

Lyon called out the mandatory greeting to his guild mates as he made his way over to the requests. He quickly glanced over them until he found the one he was looking for. He grabbed hold of it and read it over again.

It was an anonymous request, asking for assistance in finding information on restoring broken memories. Lyon had noticed it before but didn't find it very interesting or worth his time. But after hearing Gray's story he recognized it as a request the Fairy Tail master must have sent out to other guilds for aid in helping their resident ice mage.

No further information was on there that Gray did not already tell him so he placed it back where it was. Someone else could take the mission. Lyon would preform it anyway and if someone else picked it up, then that was all the better for Gray.

He was just about to turn back around when he heard a commotion from behind. Glancing in the direction of the yells his eyes widened as he saw, none other than the king of calamity himself, Natsu Dragneel.

The fire dragon slayer was acting friendly enough, smiling toothily at everyone, then his eyes locked with Lyon's and they narrowed dangerously.

"You want something from me?" Lyon asked, glaring back at him.

"Yeah," Natsu said in his best intimidating tone, "I want to know where Gray is."

Lyon dropped his glare and shook his head, "You probably just missed him, he left no more than a couple hours ago." he explained.

"What?" Natsu's eye returned to their normal shape, "He must have taken the train." he muttered, then he looked back at Lyon and glared at him once again, "Why did he come to you?"

"For a visit," Lyon said with a shrug, "We haven't seen each other in a while. Why are you being so rude about all this? Are you mad at Gray about something?"

"I'm always mad at Gray." Natsu replied a matter of factually, "But that has nothing to do with this. The moron's being haunted by something and he won't tell anyone about it. You must have noticed this, did he tell you anything?"

"No." Lyon replied, a little too quickly.

Natsu picked up on this.

"Okay, what do you know?"

"Know about what?" Lyon asked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back casually against the wall.

"About why Gray's been acting to strange, duh. I don't know why he would tell you anything since he won't even talk to his guild mates about it."

Lyon felt a slight irritation at the way Natsu had said 'you' like he was somehow inferior.

"And why wouldn't he tell me and not you people." he retorted, "I probably know more about him than you ever cared to find out."

"So he did tell you something then." Natsu grinned with triumph.

"I-" Lyon's words stuck in his throat as he realized that he had been slipped up by the others flawed logic. "Okay, fine." he admitted with a sigh as he metal kicked himself.

"So..." Natsu drew out the word, waiting for Lyon to continue talking.

"I'm not telling you anything." Lyon hissed, "Gray said he didn't want anyone else to know. You're not getting a word out of me. Gray will tell you himself when he's ready. So stop pestering me. And don't perter Gray either, I guarantee that that's going to backfire on you."

Lyon noticed a bit of flame lick around the fire mage's knuckles as he tightened his fists. He could practically hear the thoughts of rage that swirled in his head. He needed to calm him down before he did something stupid."

"Look," he said, putting his hands up, "I know you're just worried and trying to help him, but an interrogation is not what he needs right now."  
"Then tell me what you know and I won't do that." Natsu hissed through clenched teeth.

"Maybe that would be best," Lyon admitted, "But I'm not going to go behind Gray's back on this. If it gets worse then come tell me and I might reconsider. I don't want him to get hurt because of a secret he's too afraid to share. But betraying him right now would do more damage than good."  
Natsu's anger faded slightly as he saw some truth in Lyon's words. "Are you at least going to help him?" he asked, "Since you know what's wrong?"

"Of course." Lyon replied, "I was just about to get started on that when you showed up."

"Really?" Natsu's anger was now entirely gone and he looked at Lyon with renewed respect. "Is there some way I can help?"

Lyon's first answer was no, but he stopped himself just before saying it. "Maybe." he said thoughtfully, "I'd have to do a little more research, but if I think of something I'll be sure to send you word."

"You better." Natsu threatened.

Then the dragon slayer gave the man on last glare before turning and heading out the door.

"Keep a close eye on Gray, okay." Lyon barked the order just as stepped over the threshold.

Natsu gave a wave to show he had heard, then was gone.

* * *

Erza hummed a simple tune to herself as she trotted down the path towards the guild hall. It was a fine morning and she put on the pretense of enjoying it, but in her mind, she could help but think back on what Makarov had said. Her humming ceased as the familiar figure of her old friend came up from the opposite end of the path. She took in his distressed features. He was staring at his feet as he walked eyebrows etched together in a scowl.

"Good morning!" Erza greeted, forcing her lips back into a smile.

Gray looked up and put on his own fake smile as he saw her.

"Good morning, Erza." he greeted back.

She caught the strain in his voice, and it brought her worry, she felt for him back into full swing. she restrained herself to keep from asking the ice mage if he was all right.

"Have you seen Natsu? I have a message for him." she asked instead, trying to sound polite and casual.

"No, I haven't." Gray replied before turning back down to stare at his feet.

He continued on, not even slowing down as he went. Erza stopped and stared at him, knowing she should just let him go by, but her instincts told her she couldn't just leave a friend alone in that state. Without a second thought to stop herself, she reached out a hand to touch his shoulder as he passed.

Gray's head shot up and his eyes widened. He flinched away, mouth emitting a quiet hiss, before he broke into a run.

Erza took two steps after him before her reason returned and she skidded to a halt.

"Why are you-?" she whispered, throat clogging up so she could not finish.

Her eyes blurred with tears as she watched his retreating back, but she blinked them away before they had the chance to fall.

She turned to the side, changing her course to Lucy's home.

* * *

"Is that really all Master had to say?" Lucy questioned before taking another sip of her tea.

"That was as much as he was willing to tell." Erza replied.

Erza had barged into Lucy's apartment before the other even had the chance to so much as open the door, and had made herself comfortable on the girl's sofa as she passed on the massage Makarov had given her.

"So all we can do now is wait?" she said with a sigh.

"In essence, yes." Erza replied, "Since Gray has amnesia, then perhaps spending time with him will be enough to help."

Lucy's face lite up with an idea, "You're right." she chirped, "Maybe would could even try and do things that might jog his memory. Like reenact some of our missions or something."

"Um... I'm not sure if that's such a good idea." Erza confessed, "We still don't know enough."

"But what could go wrong?" Lucy asked, "I understand that he's not acting quite himself around us, but isn't that just because were basically strangers to him? If we don't spend time with him, how's anything going to get better."  
Erza let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead with her palm, "Perhaps you're right, and maybe you would be the best person to do that. I think he would be a bit more relaxed around you than he would me."

Lucy looked at her friend in concern. He hadn't noticed it before, but Erza looked tired, she didn't carry herself in quite the same way and gravity seemed to pull down on her a bit more. She stood up and went to sit on the sofa next to her.

"It'll be all right." she said, giving her arm a small squeeze, "It always is in the end."

Erza nodded and gave Lucy a small smile. "I know it will. I just wish there was something more I could do."

Lucy didn't know what to say to that. So instead she gave her a hug. Erza pushed her away, then stood to her feet.

"I'm going to go find Natsu before he does anything stupid." she said.

"Okay," Lucy said quietly.

She sat there in silence for a long while after Erza had left. This was truly different than any of the other conflicts they had to face. She really wasn't close enough to Gray to know how to approach him best. None of them really did. It was just so odd. But she couldn't just wait, she had to do something.

After a long calculating minute she came up with a plan. Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn't, but she had to try something.


	5. Stirring Memories

Chapter 5: Stirring Memories

000

Mirajane Strauss was always up with the sun. Before anyone else even had the chance to make an appearance she was there, unlocking the guild doors and on her way to the kitchen to make breakfast for the other early risers that would be there in an hour or so. That was how it was on her normal days if you can call any day that when you're a member of Fairy Tail.

This however was not one of her normal days. She became aware of that when she heard someone calling out to her before she even had the chance to reach for her keys.

"Good morning, Mira!"

It was Lucy, standing by the guild doors, waving at her. She smiled and strode over.

"Good morning, Lucy. What has brought you up so early?" she asked, her cheerful tone hiding her surprise.

"I'm on a very important mission and I need your help." Lucy explained, clasping her hands together in a pleading gesture.

"Well, I kind of have things I need to do for the master, but if I can work it in, then I'll be glade to help you Lucy." She explained as she unlocked the guild doors.

000

Sixty-three minutes later and the guild hall was filled with members, picking up requests or having a bit of breakfast to start their day. Lucy sat at the bar, her eyes locked in on the door.

A crafty smile spread across her face when it opened and Gray finally walked in. She turned back around and stared ahead, trying to act normal.

Gray walked put to the board and began mulling over the requests. Lucy sneaked a glance over at Mira frowned when she saw the woman was chatting with Elfman. She covered her mouth and coughed loudly, trying to get the others attention.

Mira glanced up and gave her a confused look. She nodded her head in Gray's direction. Mira looked puzzled for a moment, then her face lit up with realization and she hurried over to where Gray was standing.

"Gray, do you have a minute?" she asked.

The ice mage turned around, "You need something?"

"Well, it's just that I'm a little swamped with things to do today, and I was wondering if you might lend a hand in helping me out?" she gave him a warm smile.

Gray blinked a few times, then shook his head, "Today's really not a good day." He gave her an apologetic look then turned back to the board.

Mira's smile faded as she turned back around to go tell Lucy that their plan failed. She had barely taken a step before someone leaped passed her, grabbed gray by both shoulders and spun him around.

"Come one Gray, can't you see the woman's completely stressed out." Lucy urged as she pointed him in Mira's direction.

Gray stared at Mira's kempt appearance, then looked over his shoulder at the blonde, "No, I really can't."

"But, you use to always help Mira out when she needed it." Lucy insisted, pushing him forward a bit, "I'll help out too. Come on Mira, tell us what you need done."

"Mm…" Mira looked thoughtful for a moment, "I need someone to sort through all the old records. Someone got into them a few days ago and now everything's out of order."

"Say no more." Lucy cheered and began dragging Gray down to the guild's library.

The ice mage was looking rather repulsed, but he didn't protest and let himself be let.

000

"Thank you so much for doing this for me." Mira thanked them as she began pulling down files.

"We're glad to help, aren't we Gray." Lucy grinned and glanced at Gray.

The ice mage nodded and forced a smile as Mira set down the first box of files and began pulling records out.

"Let's get started then. The job records are sorted according to member. We need to go through all of them and make sure none of them are in the wrong file. We'll start with this one."

"Okay," Lucy reached into the box and pulled out a job record, "Why Gray, this is one of yours."

The blond inwardly grinned in triumph as she handed the record to Gray. Her plan was going perfectly. Now that she's got Gray going over his old job requests this was sure to help bring back his memories. And if that didn't work she had Mira there, all she had to do was say something like, 'Hey, this job sounds really fascinating, what's it all about.' And then the woman who knew everything that went on in Fairy Tail would smile and recount the story, giving Gray more detailed picture of his past.

As Gray took the paper, she had to suppress a squeal of giddiness as he started to read. She studied his face for any kind of reaction.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Gray said as he set the paper down on the table.

Lucy felt the sting of defeat creep up on her at this bored reaction, but she quickly shook it off and grabbed another record.

"Gee, this one's got your name on it as well. It says here that you were hired to hunt down a horned bull crab, that must have been interesting." She picked up another one, "Oh, and this one was for helping find a lost child."

She began handing record after record to the ice mage, anything that had his name on it. She was suddenly pulled away from the papers she was snatching up, by the sound of Mira clearing her throat. She glanced up at the woman; she was mouthing something to her. ' _slow down._ ' Lucy blinked a few times, then nodded in understanding and clamped her mouth shut.

They continued their work with less talking, however Lucy still shoved any request she found that looked like it might be significant to Gray and would make a comment or two about it.

She wasn't getting any reactions out of him. He was barely even looked at the papers now and just glancing to see whose name was on the top and placing it back in the file.

Lucy gritted her teeth to hold back her frustration as Gray brushed off another record: it was time to move to plan two.

"Hey, Mira, would you take a look at this one." She called over her friend and snatched the paper back from Gray, "It says it was just a simple delivery job but look at the reward Gray received for it. Who gets paid that kind of money for just a delivery?"

"Let me take a look at it." Mira took the record and read it over, "Oh, now I remember." she smiled.

"What? Tell me about it?" Lucy enthused.

"Well,"

Lucy kept glancing sideways at Gray as Mira delved into the story. It was a rather fascinating story, but she found she could barely pay attention to it; Finally, Gray was giving her something.

It was just nothing at first, but, as Mira dove deeper into the story she could see him starting to tense. He continued filing papers like before, but his actions grew less swift and fluid. Lucy's eyes widened as she caught him suddenly clinching his teeth and taking in a sharp breath. He looked at her, then at Mira and stood to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Mira asked.

"Just to get some air, it's getting a little stuffy in here." He said as he turned around and headed for the door.

As she watched him go, Lucy felt the concern in her heart deepening.

"Do you think maybe we went too far?" she whispered.

Mira reached a hand out and placed it on the blonde's shoulder, "It must really be hurting him to be like this." She said softly, "We need to do all we can to help him. If this didn't work, then we need to just try something else."

"You're right," Lucy sighed, "We should… try something else."

000

Gray didn't come back down. Instead, he made his way back over to the board and snatched off the first job he saw and brought it to the master.

Makarov gave the boy a wary look, but let him take the request. Gray nodded in thanks and headed towards the door. He was barely out when he saw Erza coming down the street towards the guild.

"Gray!" she exclaimed when she saw him, "Where are you going?"

"Just a quick job." He said keeping his gaze set just below her eyes.

"Are you going on your own?" she asked in a tone that implied that she did not approve in the least.

"It's just a simple job. The reward's to small to split it up between two people." He grunted as he brushed passed her.

She reached an arm out and grabbed him before he could get away. "You should be more cautious Gray. You just got back from a difficult mission remember. Don't strain yourself, okay." She didn't know why, but her words came out less threatening like they normally would and more gentle.

"All right, all ready, just let me go!" he yelled, as he yanked himself free.

Erza ignored the part of herself that was screaming at her to run after him and she slowly turned back to the guild. At least she tried to ignore it. She ordered her favorite dessert hoping that would take her mind off things and yet it still persisted. She stared down at the strawberry cake and found she had no appetite for it. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, then finally gave in and bolted for the door.

000

"Geez, this bits." Natsu muttered, as he rested his chin on his palm.

He was seated cross-legged on the river bank, his other hand was clutching a pole as he stared at the fishing bobber as it made small ripples in the water.

"How can you be grumpy when catching fish?" Happy questioned.

The blue cat had his own pull clutched tightly in his paws, watching his own bobber with the intensity of a hunter stalking its prey.

"I've got nothing against fishing with you little buddy. I just wish there was something more interesting to do."

"Why don't you go on a job with Lucy?"

"She's busy doing something with Mira."

"Mira? What are those two up to?"

"Donno."

Natsu shrugged, then stuck his pole into the ground and lay down upon the soft grass of the river bank.

"That's not how you fish, Natsu. You're going to lose your pole." Happy warned.

"Don't care." Natsu sighed as he shut his eyes.

Their conversation ended and Natsu was left to listen to the calming rhythm of running water. It was rather peaceful and calmed his agitated nerves somewhat. He was even starting to drift off to sleep when Happy poked at his side and rudely pulled him back out of his peaceful moment.

"What is it?" he moaned, opening one eye to glare at is blue friend.

"This." Happy held up what appeared to be a piece of ice at first glance. But, the thing was moving. It hopped out of his furry paws and landed on the dragon slayer's chest.

Natsu's other eye opened wide and he quickly recognized it as a small bird made completely out of ice.

"It just flew over here." Happy explained, "I've never seen a bird like this. Is it magic?"

"Yeah, Lyon's magic." Natsu said. He wasn't completely sure, but that was the first thing that came to mind.

Just as he said this the bird melted away, leaving behind a small puddle and two folded up piece of paper. Natsu sat up and picked the note up off his chest. He unfolded the first one and recognized it as a map of Fiore, the only thing that stood out about it was a red 'X' marking out a location. Natsu eagerly unfolded the next paper.

' _Natsu, meet me at the location I've marked on the map. I need your help._ '

"Finally!" he exclaimed.

He shot to his feet, brushing off the few bits of grass that clung to his clothing before picking up his poll and heading off.

"Where are we going?" Happy asked, grabbing his own pule and bounding in step behind him.

"To help Lyon help Gray." he stated simply.

"Really? Do you want me to come along?"

Natsu glanced back down at the map, "My guess is that this is going to take a while." he muttered, "You might want to sit this one out."

"Okay, I wanted to finish fishing anyway." Happy said, "Good luck and all that."

He turned back around and cast his hook back into the river. Natsu couldn't tell if he was bummed or not at being left out, but he didn't really want his furry friend to come along. He didn't know how this was going to turn out and he'd rather not take any risks.

He made a quick mental note to remember to finish pulling whatever Lyon knew about Gray out of the arrogant mage's throat, then started running home to get what he needed for the journey.


	6. Returning Wounds

Chapter 6: Returning Wounds

* * *

What was she doing? What was she doing? She wasn't a stalker. She had respect for the privacy of others. And yet here she was, ducking behind shadows, keeping watch on Gray as he worked on completing his mission.

She had no idea what kind of request he had picked out, but as she followed him along a path into a wood, she started to get a clearer idea. He trudged through the green underbrush in silence, seemingly his normal self, but if you gave him a closer look you could see the signs of fatigue.

This was what drove her to follow him more than anything. The happiness and safety of her friends meant more to her than anything else and she couldn't rest easy when one of them was in distress; and Gray especially, her first friend she ever made from Fairy Tail.

She had to put her thoughts on hold for the moment when her target suddenly came to a halt.

He stood for a moment as his gaze shifted to the ground. His brow slanted into a scowl and as he brought them together, forming a giant spear as tall as a house that buried itself deep into the ground.

The ground began to shake. She could feel it quaking under her feet. Gray took several steps back as the earth was torn apart in front of him. A beast appeared. Its body like a snack, but lacking scales. Its mouth opened to revile two wide fangs. Its body was as thick as a tree trunk and poured out from the earth in seemingly endless coils

"So this is the thing that keeps on attacking travels," she heard Gray mutter.

As she took in the creature she felt a smirk rise to her lips. Gray would have no trouble defeating this thing. Perhaps her concern had been unwarranted.

Gray took a second to size up the creature before calling on his magic to attack.

"Ice-Make: Lance." he cried.

The attack hit dead on and the creature reeled back with the force of the blow. Erza's eyes widened as she looked at it. Its skin was completely unscathed. Was its hide really that tough? A screeching sound was emitted from the creature's throat as it lunged itself at Gray, mouth open, ready to bite. Since his previous attack had almost no effect he tried a different one, and another, and another. Each one hit it dead on but showed no sign of damage.

Erza looked on, her brow furrowed as she tried to piece this together. Even if this was the first time she had seen such a monster she could tell that its hide was not durable enough to protect itself from such a skilled mage as gray. Then a thought hit her and she focused her attention on studying Gray instead.

The ice mage had stopped attacking now and was now concentrating on dodging the massive coils as they flailed about. He grunted in frustration and through another attack at its head. Then she saw it; The problem lay with Gray's magic. It looked just as strong and powerful as ever but fell apart upon instant impact with anything it hit.

She narrowed her eyes and summoned a sword, preparing to step in should Gray be unable to get a handle on things.

There was another rumble in the earth as the creature's tail appeared, just behind Gray. The ice mage was caught off guard and had little time to react before tail slammed into his side, sending him flying. He hit one of the trees hard, the rough bark digging into his side.

The blow had left him dazed for a few seconds and he did not see the creature's head coming straight at him, nor could not react as it opened its mouth and bared its fangs. Erza could, though. She ran forward and plunged her blade into one of the coils. With a cry, it ceased its attack to flail in agony.

"Gray are you all right?" she called as she rushed to her friend's side.

Gray didn't answer. Erza's breath hitched as she stared into those wide eyes that stared back in fear. She cringed and took a step back, as she did so Gray seemed to collect himself and turned his features into a glare.

"Erza, what are you doing here?" He demanded.

"I'm sorry, but I followed you. I was worried." Erza explained, trying to make her voice as soft and non-threatening as possible.

She was used to seeing Gray cower in front of her. But that was when he acted out of line or fought with Natsu and was cringing at the threat of punishment. Here, she was not threatening him, and the look he gave simply a fear of her actions but a fear of her.

She couldn't stand seeing that look on his face and needed to know why it was there. But questioning would have to wait was the monster was up again, now hurtling itself towards them with a vengeance. She didn't even bat an eye; leaping into the air and slicing off its head in one swift movement.

The creature's body fell to the ground, twitched for a few seconds then was still.

"Ah!"

Eza's attention whipped back around to Gray as he suddenly let out a pained cry. His he was kneeling on the ground, hand clutching his side.

"You're bleeding!" she cried, rushing back to him.

She pulled his hand away to examine the wound, staring at it in utter confusion. She had not seen him get hurt on this side and his shirt was not torn. How then was he bleeding so much that his side had turned completely red.

Erza pushed the questions away for the moment and concentrated on stopping the bleeding. She forced Gray to lie down on the forest floor and pressed both hands to the wound. Gray flinched away at her touch, but she could not tell if it was from pain or something else.

He turned his head to the side and she looked away from his face and focused it down upon the wound. Nothing was said and she wondered if there was anything she could say. Minutes passed with nothing but the sound of their breathing.

"I think it's stopped bleeding."

Gray's voice pulled her out of the state she was in and she looked up at him, slightly surprised. She moved her hands away and realized that the bleeding had indeed stopped.

"Thanks," Gray said, not looking at her as he stood to his feet.

He began walking and didn't say anything when Erza began following him closely.

"Gray, shouldn't we stop at the hospital and get you patched up before going home?" Erza asked, giving him a small smile.

Inwardly, she cursed herself for her shortsightedness. This had to be the one trip where she left all her luggage behind. Gray was in sore need of the first aid kit she kept in one of her many suite cases.

"No," Gray responded, "Fairy Tail isn't far away and the bleeding's stopped."

Erza found she could do nothing but agree, despite her apprehension. She did, however, keep a trained eye on him as she followed. Despite her close observations, he seemed to carry himself normally, except for the hand that he kept pressed to his side to keep it from reopening.

It wasn't until they were back in Magnolia and nearing Fairy Tail that she started to notice a change. His pace and breathing began to grow faster. And he clutched at his side more tightly. She didn't say anything, however; they were almost home and she doubted Gray would stop now.

They were only a few blocks away from the guild when Gray hissed in pain and fell to his knees. His hand flew to his other side and pressed against it.

Erza ran the few steps to him and knelt down. Her eyes widened in horror as she took in the blood that seeped from another separate wound that had just opened up.

"Gray, what is this?" she demanded.

Gray didn't answer; he was too busy trying to steady his breaths were coming in way to0 fast.

"What's wrong with you?" Erza tried again to get a response out of him.

A shudder ran through Gray, then his eyelids closed and he fell limp against her.

"Gray?"

She could feel her heartbeat starting to race. She sucked in a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, then pulled Gray into her arms and ran the rest of the way back to Fairy Tail.

The loud bang that filled the hall as the door was slammed open caught everyone's attention. Erza ignored everyone's questions for the moment and ran to the infirmary, pushing passed whoever tried to crowd around her and Gray.

Once they were inside she lay Gray down on one of the beds, grabbed a cloth and pressed it to the open wound. A few seconds later, Mira rushed in, her eyes wide with horror concern.

"Erza what is going on? What happened to Gray?"

"I don't know exactly, but I need someone to fetch Wendy. We'll probably need Polyusica as well."

"I'll send Jet," Mira said with a nod then hurried back out.

Erza let out a shuddering sigh and turned back to her task. She could see Gray's eyes moving under his eyelids as she applied more pressure to his wound. A few more people came in with questions or asking if they could help. She turned them away. Minutes passed and just when the bleeding was starting to stop Wendy finally came in.

"What happened?" she gasped as she took in the sight.

"I don't know how he got like this, but can you please try and heal him?" Erza asked.

"Of course."

The girl quickly stepped forward and Erza moved her hands away so she could have room to work her magic. The healer held her hands just above the wound and they started to glow. After a few seconds, her brow furrowed and the magical light grew brighter. A minute passed before she finally pulled away, Gray looking none the better.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, her voice shaking, "I couldn't do anything, it's just like when I tried to heal his head. I think whatever that was must have spread or something."

"What?" Erza gasped, stepping closer, "What does that mean?"

"I don't know," Wendy shook her head, "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, we'll figure this out." Erza reassured her, "Polyusica I'm sure will know something. In the meantime, let's clean and bandage his wound."

Wendy nodded and quickly went to get the things they needed. Erza set about removing Gray's shirt. She tore the fabric and slid it off him, pulling a bit where it stuck to the dry blood. When she finally caught a clear view of his wounds she sucked in her breath. Three gashes on each side, as if he had been clawed by some wild beast.

Wendy came over with a damp cloth and gasped when she saw the wounds.

"What happened to him?" she whispered.

"I don't know, but I sure hope that whatever it was got a thrashing in return."

* * *

"Gray-sama's been hurt?" Juvia cried.

"Where is he?" Lucy asked.

"He's upstairs in the infirmary with Erza and Wendy," Laki informed them.

Lucy thanked her before hurrying to follow Juvia who was already half way to the door.

"Gray-sama!" she cried as she burst through the door.

"Quite please!" Erza growled, "He's resting." Juvia immediately clamped her lips shut. Her gaze traveled to the bed where Gray lay and stayed transfixed on his pale face. She took several hesitant steps forward until she stood right next to him.

"How did this happen?" Lucy asked, walking over to him herself to get a better look.

"I don't know, it just did," Erza stated, "I followed him on his mission to make sure he was safe. He ended up fighting this giant worm-like snake and I could see that he was struggling so I stepped in. After that, I noticed that his side was bleeding. We were on our way back when the second wound appeared."

"I tried healing him, but my magic wouldn't work." Wendy also commented, her face somber.

"Your magic wouldn't work?" Lucy asked.

Wendy shook her head, her eyes cast downward.

"Can you two keep an eye on Gray? I'm going to go see if Jet was able to convince Poliusica to come here." Erza asked.

"Oh, can I come?" Wendy asked, her expression brightening some, "I haven't seen Poliusica-san in a while."

"Of course." Erza agreed.

The two bid them farewell then left the room.

"Well, I guess we're on nursing duty," Lucy said with a small smile as she turned to at Juvia.

Juvia said nothing. Her gaze was still focused on Gray. She looked dead to the rest of the word and like she might start crying at any second.

"Hey, Juvia." Lucy clapped her hands to try and get the others attention.

"What?" Juvia finally responded, speaking softly.

"You were kind of spaced out," Lucy said, leaning over so she could look into the water mage's eyes.

"Oh, sorry." Juvia's voice came out broken, "It's just that: Juvia was so excited that Gray-sama was finally coming back. There was so much she wanted to do with him. Juvia didn't expect it to be like this."

Lucy's heart sank as she suddenly realized that this was the first time Juvia had seen Gray since his return. She forced a smile onto her lips and wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders.

"It's going to be all right." She tried to encourage her, "Once Fairy Tail sets their mind to do something, there's nothing that can stop us. We're going to bring Gray back to his normal self, just you wait and see."

Juvia nodded, sniffing softly.

"Juvia knows that we will, she just wishes that Gray-sama didn't have to go through all this pain to begin with."

"Yeah, me too," Lucy whispered.


	7. The Temple of Healing

Chapter 7: The Temple of Healing

* * *

Almost instantly after the train came to a halt at the end of the tracks. As soon as it came to a halt, Natus ran off the train and through himself on the unmoving ground. He lay there for several minutes as he waited for his stomach to settle and his head to stop spinning. Once he more or less had a substantial grip on reality he stood to his feet and took in his surroundings. He was in a small town, set at the base of a mile high mountain.

Lyon hadn't given any specific place to meet up. But the town wasn't that big so he should be able to track the ice mage by scent. He sniffed the air as he walked from the station. Not hint of Lyon scent yet but he did catch a whiff of frying meat. He followed the smell until the came to a restaurant.

He grinned and ran over, already set on filling his stomach that had been emptied on the train.

He stepped inside and checked the place out. Nothing was unusual or threatening about the place; just your typical small resterant with a few other customers munching on their meals. Natsu picked a table and sat down. A waitress soon came over.

"What can I get you for?" she asked.

Natsu glanced at the menu then back at her "Just get me one of everything." he said with a grin.

He still had a lot of money left over from what he took for the trip, and he felt like he was practically starving and wanted to splurge a little.

"All righty then. I'll have that sent out." the woman nodded then turned away.

He had to wait about twenty minutes before trays piled with steaming hot dishes were set in front of him. He licked his lips and dug in. Just when he was licking of the grease off the last dish when the waitress came back and handed him his bill.

"Will that be all sir?"

"That's everything for me. Man, that was delicious."

He picked up the bill and ran his gaze of the numbers.

"Um... I think there's been a mistake."

"Has there?" the woman leaned over to double check the bill, "No, sir, that is the correct amount."

"But it says 10,000 jewel. That's just ridiculous, I didn't eat that much."

"That's just our prices sir." the woman pulled out a menu and handed it to him.

Natsu glanced over it and his eyes nearly bugged out of his skull.

"What the heck is this? I'm not paying for this. Sure your food's good but this is a complete rip-off! I don't even have that much on me!"

He hadn't realized he had been yelling until he finished and noticed that everyone was looking at him. The place was completely silent.

"If you couldn't afford the food then you shouldn't have ordered the food."

Natsu looked over to see who was speaking. A giant burly man with grease all over his fingers and an uncombed beard was striding up to him.

"Who are you?"

"Someone who doesn't like when people don't pay others what they owe."

"Oh, I'll pay for the food, but only what its worth." Natsu retorted.

He shoved his hands into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He hummed to himself, ignoring the way the man glared at him and counted out what he would normally pay for an all menu meal.

"Here, you go." he handed the money the waitress, "I'll be going now, got someone I need to meet up with."

He tried walking out, but the man stepped in front of him, blocking his way.

"Let me through." He hissed, through clenched teeth.

"You're not going anywhere until you pay this place what you own."

Natsu didn't even bother with a retort and instead gave a swift kick to the man's gut. He doubled over as the wind was knocked out of him. Natsu smirked and casually stepped around him and out the door.

He was able to take tree unhindered steps before he was lunged at and tackled to the ground. Natsu kicked and punched at the man in order to get him off. The man fought back but could hardly get ahold of the mage.

Sure he could just use his magic and blast this guy into the ground, but he was haven't too much fun at the moment disfiguring his face with his fists.

"Natsu!"

Natsu stopped for a moment when he heard someone's angry voice yelling at him. He turned his head and saw Lyon standing a few feet away, arms crossed over his chest and glaring at him. He had a travel back slung over his shoulder.

The man who was assaulting Natsu stopped as well and turned to look Lyon's way.

"You know this guy?" he asked the ice mage, jabbing a thumb at Natsu.

Lyon pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "Yes. What did he do?"

"This low life tried to eat and run without paying."

"I can't afford your crazy prices; I don't know anyone who could." Natsu rose up in defense of himself. He took a few steps towards Lyon, "I paid you guys what was fair."

"What did they charge you?" Lyon asked, his voice sharp and cold.

"10,000"

"And what did you pay them?"

"1,000"

Lyon swung the bag off his shoulder and began rummaging it. He pulled out a wad of bills and countered out 9,000. He gave Natsu a cold glare as walked up to the man and handed him the money.

He then grabbed Natsu by the arm in a tighter than necessary grip and began pulling him away.

"Ow!" Natsu growled, "Let go already, I can follow you on my own."

"If I didn't need you for this mission I think I might kill you right now." Lyon shot back.

He let go of Natsu's arm only to sent his knuckles flying into his nose.

The fire mage nearly fell backward from the unexpected blow.

"You wanna fight too do you?" he asked after he had regained his balance.

"Shut up and pay attention." Lyon barked, "We're heading up the mountain, so start walking while I explain the plan."

"Fine." Natsu reluctantly agreed and followed Lyon as the man lead their way.

Natsu waited, but Lyon didn't start talking right away. Instead, he waited until they were just a the base of the mountain where a wall beaten trail led up. They were now out of town, far away from anyone who might over-hear them.

"Centuries ago there lived a very skilled woman who was a master of healing magic. She was the best of her time and perhaps there hasn't been anyone greater than her since."

"Okay." Natsu said to show he was listening.

"But one day she was injured so severely that she could not cure herself," Lyon continued, "This greatly upset her because she lived in a time where there constant war and sickness. She dreaded having to die so soon when there was still so much she could do to help. So she transformed her body into a long lasting form so that she could continue to heal people even after death. On this mountain there lies a temple where the remainder of her body is kept."

"And you think that we can somehow use her healing magic to fix Gray." Natsu finished for him.

"That's what I'm hoping for, yes."

"Great, sounds like it might work. How far away is this temple?"

"Near the top."

There were about a third of the way to the top when Natsu saw the edge of a stone structure. They continued upwards until the whole temple was in view. The whole structure was made out of gray and white stone. the same stone made of a good portion of the mountain and the building blended into the landscape.

"Wow, this thing's as big as Magnolias cathedral." Natsu said with a whistle.

"Yeah, it's big isn't it."

Lyon placed his pack down on the ground them bend over it and began rummaging through it. He pulled out a long black cloak and put it on.

"Why are you wearing that?" Natsu asked.

Lyon pulled the hood over his head, concealing most of his face. "although this place was originally intended for anyone to be able to come and be healed, the caretakers of the temple have taken it over and are using it for their own gain. Now only the wealthy can afford to get it. People who are desperate enough will come here and will spend their entire life's savings for healing. That's why the food you ate was so expensive; the locals must have thought you were one of the upper class so they tried to swindle you out of your money."

"So, are we sneaking in then?" Natsu asked, "Because I don't even have enough case to buy the grub in this town."

"Don't worry, I picked up some while I was waiting for you to get here."

"And by 'picked up' you mean?"

"I snuck in a raided the temple treasury."

Natsu broke into a wide grin. "So, were going to pay them with their own money."

"Yep," Lyon smirk, "Now come on, let's get inside."

"Hang you, you still haven't told me why you're wearing that getup. Do I need to wear one too?"

"Oh, right." Lyon muttered, "I'm going to pretend to be your infected brother. Just say I've got leprosy or something and I'm going to die if I'm not healed."

"And why would I need to do that? Can't we just tell 'em that we want to help Gray?"

"Just trust me on this," Lyon reassured him.

Natsu's inpatients won over his curiosity and so he decided to just go along with Lyon and whatever he had planned.

While the outside looked rather chipped and worn down by the effects of time, the inside was just he opposite. The stone had been smoothed and polished to the point that it almost looked like marble. The first room they stepped in was nearly a hundred feet square. Two men in red robes were standing about. They immediately saw them and strode over.

"Welcome travelers to Parsptomies's temple." the shorter of the men spoke, "Have you come here seeking to be healed?"

There was a short moment of silence where no one said anything.

"Natsu." Lyon hissed under his breath.

Natsu gave Lyon a confused look before he remember that he was supposed to do the talking. He turned back to the two men.

"Uh... yeah, my brother here is dying of leprosy and needs to be healed," He explained with almost no emotion in his voice.

"Fantastic acting," he heard Lyon mutter in a way that made the fire mage want to turn around and slug the guy.

"Well you have certainly come to the right place." the man clapped his hands together, "Follow me, I'll show you where to leave your offering."

They traveled to the back of the room where a large and beautifully decorated chest lay.

"Please, place your offering in here. If it is deemed worthy enough then Parsptomies will consent to heal you."

The man moved and opened the lid of the chest. Then just stood there, looking at them expectantly.

Natus's eyes widened as Lyon stepped forward and poured a ridiculous amount of money into the chest. He couldn't help thinking of how many months worths of Lucy's rent that would pay. Fifty? A hundred?

The man grinned stupidly as he watched the money pour in.

"What a generous offering you've brought. I have no doubt that Parsptomies will grant your request."

He slammed the lid shut with a loud thud that echoed through the room. The dumb grin was still plastered on his face as he led them away again.

"I will now show you to the place where her remains reside."

"Are you sure you had to give them all the money?" Natsu whispered as they walked a few yards behind the man.

"Who said I gave them all the money." Lyon whispered back.

They traveled to the very last room of the temple. It was small compared to the first. Long velvet curtains had been hung over the walls. In the middle of the room there stood a large circular platform carved out of green stone. The only thing occupying the platform was rock, about twice the size of Natsu. It was white like unpolished crystal. it was jagged and uneven as if pieces had been chipped off of it for every side.

"This is the form the great healer took after her death." their guide said, "Step up to her and tell her your request. If she finds you worthy she will speak to you."

The man stood aside and Gray and Lyon stepped forward.

"Now what?" Natsu whispered to Lyon.

But Lyon wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to him. In was instead staring intently at the stone, his brow furrowed in confusion. He took several more steps closer before whirling around and glaring at their guide.

"What is this?" he demanded, "This is not the healer's stone."

"I assure you it is." the man replied a little to hastily.

"I have been here before and this is not the stone that was here the first time." Lyon growled, as she slowly advanced towards the man.

"W-well you see... T-the stone is known to change shape every few years or so." the man stammered, stepping back to try and keep his distance from the advancing mage.

"Don't give me your lies. That stone is clearly nothing more that a dead rock. Tell me where the real one is."

"Calm down I can-" The man was cut short as he was suddenly encased in a block of ice.

"Quite your blabbering and tell me where the real stone is if you want to keep your warm blood flowing."

"Help, I'm being attacked." the man suddenly screeched.

"Shut it!" Lyon yelled, sending a punch to the man's face and effectively silencing him.

They could hear yelling outside and three more men dressed in robes ran into the room. all of them were armed with swords and other weapons.

"Gee Lyon, judging from the way you were going about this, I thought your plan was to sneak in and get what we wanted. Not force them to give it to us, not that I'm complaining." Natsu said as a grin slowly spread across his face.

Lyon sighed heavily. "It's not like we couldn't just beat these guys up. They're protected by the magic council and if we broke in by force we'd have that headache to deal with."

Natsu snickered, "Well since you're the one that blew our cover I'll let you deal with the magic council. But, just to make it fair, I'll take out these guys for you."

"I'd hardly call that fair," Lyon muttered as Natsu charged forward.

The fire mage made swift work of the three. seven more followed and were dispatched just as quickly.

"Man these guys were weak." Natsu complained, kicking at one on of the fallen attackers.

Lyon snorted in response. He walked over to where he had frozen their guide and undid the ice. The man collapsed to the floor in a heap. The ice mage grabbed him by his front and hoisted him into the air.

"Now will you please tell me where the real stone is?" he asked in exasperation.

"Stolen. I don't know who by. Two years ago." The man replied hastily. he was clearly shaken up after just seeing his friends get clobbered.

Lyon's eyes narrowed, "And so you just brought a fake in and kept going on like you always have, swindling people out of their money with nothing but a rock? Man, you're sick."

The man turned his head to the side, unable to look into the mage's accusing gaze.

"Do you have any idea how I might find the stone?"

"No... well... I don't know... I might... I don't"

"Spit it out!"

"We do still have a fragment of the stone. One of the caretakers was using it to try and heal his rheumatism"

"Show me." Lyon commanded as he let the man go.

The man hurried off and Natsu and Lyon followed quickly behind. They were led to a very different looking room. This looked to be the temple caretakers living quarters.

The old man went to one of the beds and pulled out a small box from underneath. He held it out for Lyon to take.

"You better take it Natsu." Lyon said, taking a step back away from the box.

"Um... okay."

Natsu stepped forward and took the small wooden box. He pulled it to him, unhooked the lid and opened it. There inside was a small rock about half the size of his fist. Just by looking at it, he could sense a small amount of power was hidden within.

"Is this it?" he asked, holding it up to Lyon so he could check.

The ice mage nodded. "Yeah, that's it. Now let's get out of here."

* * *

"So, what exactly does this thing do?" Natsu asked once they were outside the temple.

"I'm not sure. I've never seen it do anything except talk."

"It talks." Natsu's eyes widened. And he immediately opened up the box again.

"Hello?" he spoke to it, "My name is Natsu Dragneel."

"You have to touch it first you idiot." Lyon growled.

"Oh."

Natsu reached in and picked up the stone. As soon as his hand touched it a tingling sensation shot through his arm. It quickly faded and he was left staring at the object in complete puzzlement.

"Who is it that comes to me?" a soft female voice asked.

"Natsu Dragneel." the dragon slayer replied He was a little taken aback. It certanly wasn't the voice he had expected to come out of a rock.

"Have you come with a request for me?"

"Um, yeah, there's something wrong with my friend Gray and he really needs help."

"What is wrong with your friend?"

"I don't know exactly."

He looked over at Lyon, hoping the other would finally tell him what Gray had told him.

"Just tell her he needs to have his memory fixed." Lyon said.

"Is there someone else with you Natsu?" the voice asked.

"Yeah, Lyon."

"No, don't tell her it's me." Lyon hissed, but it was too late.

"Lyon? Lyon Vastia?" the pleasant voice turned into an angered hiss as it repeated the name, "The same Lyon that came to me over a decade ago wanting to use my powers to revive a demon?"

"Um..." Natsu's mind fell into a complete blank. The only thing he was vaguely aware of was Lyon cursing at him under his breath.

"My apologies to you Natsu Dragneel, but I will have nothing to do with that man; nor anything associated with him."

Natsu's brain finally caught up with him as he felt a swirl of anger rise up.

"What do you mean by that?" he growled at the stone, "Lyon's got nothing to do with this. All he did was send me to you. This is all for Gray."

No response came for the stone.

"She's not going to say anything." Lyon said with a sigh.

"Why you!" Natsu hissed, suddenly turning all his anger from the stone onto Lyon, "This is all your fault. Now, what are we going to do?"

"Sorry," Lyon growled in a tone at obviously conveyed that he wasn't, "If I hadn't been looking for ways to revive Deliora I wouldn't have heard of this thing in the first place, so there's no point in arguing on that reasoning. This is why I wanted you to come along because I knew she wouldn't agree if I had asked her. But you had to go and tell her that I was involved."

"I wouldn't have said anything if you had mentioned that little curtail detail up front."

They were now both yelling at each other with all the air in their lungs.

"So, you got any other bright ideas that are going to lead to a dead in?" Natsu asked.

"No. Why don't you come up with something for a change. Or maybe if you beg hard enough the rock will start listening to you."

"Okay, maybe I will."

They both glared at each other for a few seconds before turning away. Natsu pulled the stone back out, took a deep breath, and started begging.

"Please help me out here. Gray is hurting so much. He's a really nice guy and so many people need he to come back to normal. I hate seeing him like he is. Aren't you supposed to help people? Well, I need help. So please, just help me."

Nothing.

"Here, let me talk to her." Lyon said softly, coming up to Natsu and holding his hand out. Natsu handed him the stone and he held it up to his face.

"Please lady, I know that what I tried to do in the past was stupid. I should have never tried to force you to do such a thing. I shouldn't have even asked you. I realize now what a foolish thing it was to try and revive that demon. And this Gray person that we're trying to heal was the one that helped me realize that I had gone down the wrong path. He's a really good person and I'm afraid of what's going to happen to him if he's not healed."

Lyon waited for a long moment for some kind of response. When none came he let his hand drop with a sigh. He handed the stone back to Natsu and they continued down the path back to the town.

* * *

A/N: I'm Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. But I'm back and ready to finish the story. I hope you all are ready too and that I wasn't away so long that you all lost interest.


	8. Hope and Worry

Chapter 8: Hope and Worry

* * *

They took the train ride back together. Neither of them spoke. Natsu still clutched the stone in his hand. The car they were in was empty except for them, this being due to the fact that very few people came out this way.

"Can you please tell me what's wrong with Gray." Natsu softly spoke, breaking the silence, "I'm sick of being left in the dark. I found out that he's acting strangely because his memories have been corrupted. Can you tell me what that means?"

Lyon stiffened at he question. "I still don't know if I should."

"Please, I won't tell Gray you told me. I know he doesn't want me to know yet but..."

"No, you're right. Maybe I should tell you." Lyon sighed in defeat.

"Okay, so tell me." Natsu urged.

Lyon took a deep breath before slowly delving into the story that Gray had told him.

"His mission was to try and fend off the dark magic that was surrounding Isvan. Apparently, this magic was changing the memories of all the citizens of Isvan; changing everything they once knew and causing them to turn on their friends."

"So that's what that meant." Natsu muttered, thinking of the letter he had read.

"What?" Lyon asked.

"Never mind." Natsu shook his head. "Keep going."

Lyon gave him an odd look before continuing. "It turned out that he evil that was behind all of this was a demon that had been lying dormant deep within the earth. I think Gray said that its name was Vaeyog or something like that. Gray eventually fought the thing and killed it but not before-"

"Vaeyog?"

They both nearly jumped out of their seats as the soft questioning voice spoke.

"Healer lady?" Natsu asked, holding the stone up to his face.

"Did you say that this friend of yours killed Vaeyog?" she asked again, disbelief evident in her voice.

"Yes..." Lyon hesitantly replied.

"How did he manage that? Vaeyog is an extreamly powerful force."

"Gray's a devil slayer." Natsu said with a snort, "Of course he would have no trouble defeating a demon."

"Devil slayer? Is this really true?"

"It is." Lyon confirmed.

"If all this is so than I would like to meet this Gray."

"Why are you suddenly changing your mind." Natsu huffed, glaring at the stone.

"In my time, Vaeyog was a cause of much strife. It killed countless people and I could only heal and save a few that had fell victim to its evil. If this Gray person has in fact kill that monster then I would like to thank him."

"Really? Then you'll heal him?" Natsu asked with a hopeful grin.

"We shall see."

"Good, then we'll take you to him." Lyon replied, unable to keep his own grin off his face.

* * *

"All right, so where's the patient?" Poliusica huffed as she stepped into the infirmary. Erza and then Wendy followed in after her.

The old woman's gaze fell on Gray and she stepped over to the unconscious ice mage.

"So, you say his wounds just appeared on his body and you think they're old one's for a the mission he took several months ago?" She asked.

"That's right." Erza confirmed.

"But you don't know what happened on that mission or how he got them?"

"No, only the Master knows that."

"And where is that old fool?"

"He should be back soon. I think he went to visit one of the other guilds." Wendy answered.

"We can ask him when he gets back. With the condition that Gray is in now; he should be willing to tell us what transpired on Gray's mission." Erza stated.

"This probably could have been avoided if the old man wasn't so fond of keeping secrets." the old woman mutter and she started removing Gray's bandages.

Buth Juvia gasped and Lucy sucked in her breath as the bandages were removed and the ugly claw marks were laid bare. Polusica muttered under her breath as she stared at them closely.

"Well I can't tell you specifically what creature did this to him, but I can tell you that it was one that possed its own form of magic. I can tell that some of the creature's magic has been infused into Gray's body. Much like the venom of a snack."

"Gray-sama's been poisoned?" Juvia wailed.

"I'll have no crying while I'm working." Poliusica growled, sending a glare the water mage's way.

Juvia bit her lip and rubbed the tears out of her eyes.

"That must have been what was blocking my healing magic!" Wendy exclaimed, "Can you do anything to get rid of it?"

"I can't do anything with all you people lollygagging about. Leave so I can work in peace."

Lucy grabbed Juvia and pulled her out of the room. Erza and Wendy soon followed.

"Do you think she'll be able to help?" Lucy asked.

"If anyone can the she's the one." Wendy reassured them all.

"What did Porlyusica say?"

They all looked up to see Mira staring at them with worry.

"She is seeing if she can help him." Wendy said, "But she wanted us to leave so she can work in peace."

"I see." Mira nodded, "Why don't you all sit down and I'll get you some drinks."

"That sound like a lovely idea." Erza commented.

They sat down at he table and Mira all brought them some ice tea. But they found they simply couldn't relax. Erza stood up once her glass was empty and started pacing about. Lucy drummed her fingers on the table and fidgeted with her feet. And Juvia sniffed quietly, trying to hold back her tears. Only Wendy seemed to be able to keep still, thought her eyes would dart now and then to the infirmery door.

"Where is Natsu." Erza suddenly asked, looking over at each of them.

"I haven't seen him." Lucy replied.

"I haven't either," Wendy said, "I know Happy went out with Carlia somewhere so he's not with him."

"Mira, did Natsu go on a job?" Erza asked.

"No, he I haven't seen him at the guild all day." Mira called back, "Why, do you need him for something?"

"I'm just wondering why he's not here when one of our team members are hurt."

"Should we send someone to go look for him?"

"No, he'll show up eventually."

Their conversation was interrupted when the infirmary door was opened and Porlyusica stepped out. Everyone stood to their feet and gave her their full attention, saying nothing as they waited for her to speak. She looked tired and even grumpier than usual, but when she spoke her words were softer than her normal gruff manner.

"I'm sorry, but unless I'm given more information I cannot do anything to help."

Lucy's heart sank and she fell back into her seat. She felt a hand softly touch her shoulder. She turned to see Juvia looking at her with pleading eyes.

"What?"

"Gemini."

"Oh right!" Lucy suddenly leaped back to her feet as she cried out. Her hand was already on the twin spirits key as she ran up to the old healer.

"We can use Gemini to find out more about what happened to Gray." she said excitedly, shoving the key in the woman's face.

"What's this?" She asked skeptically.

"Gemini can transform into anyone to an almost exact replica. That means they can replicate their memories as well."

"If you think it'll work, I can't stop you from trying." the old woman shrugged, then moved aside so Lucy could get into the infirmary.

The blond hurried inside the room the held the key out in front of her and summoned her spirits.

"Piri, piri." The two spirits sand once they were out of their gate, "What can we do for you, Lucy?"

"I need you to change into Gray." Lucy said, pointing at the unconscious ice mage.

There was a small flash and then, where the two twins once were stood an exact copy of Gray.

"Good, now I need you to look into Gray's memories and tell us what exactly happened to him in the last several months, just after he left the guild to go on an important mission."

"Right."

The Gray replica closed his eyes as he searched for the requested memories. His brow furrowed and he opened his eyes again, giving Lucy an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, but all of Gray's memories of the past few months are too hazy for me to read."

Lucy's eyes widened, "What do you mean?" she asked in disbelief.

"My powers only work best if the memory is clear, I cannot read memories that have happened in the distant past or ones that the person himself has trouble remembering. I'm sure that if you asked Gray he could tell you better what it is that happened."

"Do you think that maybe this was caused by the magic that's poisoned him?" Wendy asked, looking at Polyusica.

"Perhaps," she muttered in reply, "Are the rest of his memories readable or just the more recent ones."

"Gemini?" Lucy asked.

"I'll see."

Again the spirit's eyes closed, then almost instantly he opened them again.

"Lucy, you are Gray's friend aren't you." he asked, his eyes opened wide in confusion.

"Yes..." Lucy said hesitantly.

"I'm sorry, but Gray does not see you as such."

"What do you mean he doesn't? What does he think of me?"

"He regards you as a mean-spirited person that is always insulting and belittling him. He thinks that you have cold and unfeeling heart."

Lucy's eyes widened as her brain processed what she had just been told.

"What? No, that can't be right," Lucy cried. She turned at looked at Erza in desperation, "What does this mean?"

Erza stared at her for a moment, mouth agape. She had no idea what to make of this so, she instead turned to the twin spirits.

"How does Gray regard me?"

Gemini turned and looked her in the eye. "Gray sees you as a monster of a human being, that hand out punishments for even the smallest of mistakes. You find delight in others pain, especially his own."

Erza drew in a deep breath, her wide eyes staring straight ahead. She had suspected this but hearing it, and being spoken by Gray's voice no less. It chilled her to her very marrow. She wanted to rush out right now and kill whatever man or beast had caused her dear friend to think such horrible things about her. She wanted to shake Gray awake and plead with him that she wasn't like that at all. She drew in a shaky breath to calm herself.

"That's enough; we've heard enough." she said softly.

Lucy nodded, "You can go back now." she said, forcing herself to give her spirits a small smile. "Thank you."

Gemini nodded then vanished in a flash of light.

No one spoke for a long moment. Polyusica's voice finally broke the silence

"Someone needs to tell Makarov he needs to get his sorry keester down here and explain a few things to us."

* * *

"Carla, can you tell with your clairvoyance if everything will turn out right or not?" Happy asked softly as he walked beside the female cat back to the guild hall.

"You me all that been happening with Gray?" the other asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, let's see then"

She pressed her paw to her forehead and hummed in concentration.

"I see everything returning to the way it was before." she said with a smile and lowered her paw.

Happy's face brightened for a few moments then suddenly darkened again.

"You're not just saying that to make me feel better are you?"

Carla sighed, "All right, it's true I didn't see anything. But I'm certain everything will be all right none the less. It's silly to think that after all this guild has been through that this one little thing is going to be the one we can't overcome."

Happy's smile returned as she said this. "Aye!" he sang and leaped into the air.

"What's gotten you all excited little buddy?"

They both whirled around to see Natsu standing a few feet behind them.

"Natsu!" Happy cried and flew into his arms.

"Don't hit the stomach!" Natsu warned, pulling the blue cat away from his belly. "Lyon made me ride the train all the way back and it feels like I've been punched in the gut a hundred times."

"Lyon?" Happy glanced behind Natsu, "Is he here?"

"He's on his way to Fairy Tail. I was on my way too, until I smelled your scent in the air so I thought I'd come see you first?"

"Lyon Vasita?" Carla asked, "What were you doing with him?"

"Top secret mission stuff." Natsu joked.

Carla was not amused at the other's attempt at humor and gave him a disapproving look.

"Sorry," Natsu apologized, rubbing the back of his head, "We think we might have found something that can help heal Gray."

"So you did find something?" Happy cheered.

"Yeah, come one let's go find Gray and see if it'll work."

"Aye."

They arrived at the guild hall Just a few seconds after Lyon.

"Why all the long faces?" Natsu asked, picking up on the dreary atmosphere.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried and rushed over to him.

"Where have you been?" Eza's threatening voice stopped both the blond and the dragon slayer in their tracks.

"Um..." Natu's brain was whirring, trying to remember what he had possibly done wrong that would provoke the mage's anger.

"I asked him to help me with something." Lyon answered for him, "We were looking for a possible solution to Gray's problem.

Both Lucy's and Erza's faces brightened at this news.

"You did? Did you find anything?" Lucy asked excitedly.

"We did, but I can't say yet if it'll work."

"Well anythings worth trying. Take whatever it is up to the infirmary."

"Huh?" Natsu looked at her in confusion, "Why the imfermery."

"Oh that's right, you don't know." Lucy gasped.

"Know what?" Natsu growled.

"Gray's been hurt. Go on in, Wendy and Juvia are already there."

Natsu looked to the infirmary door and walked towards it. Lyon, however, ran in front of him and beat him to it.

"Gray!" he cried as he entered the room.

He fell silent as he saw the other ice mage, lying unconscious on the bed. He stepped in further and glanced at Wendy and Juvia who were sitting on chairs next to the bed.

"Lyon-san," Wendy looked up at him in surprise, "I didn't know you would be coming. Did someone tell you about what happened."

"No, not exactly."

"What the heck happened to Gray?" Natsu demanded as he stepped to lean over the motionless mage.

Erza and Lucy stepped in and Natsu and Lyon were given the run down on what had happened as well as Poyusica's diagnosis.

"And what is this thing you've found?" Erza asked once they had finished.

"This thing." Natsu reached into his pocket and pulled out the crystal.

Everyone leaned over to get a closer look at it.

"What is it?" Lucy asked.

"Its a peice of what remains of a very powerful healer that was born centuries ago." Lyon explained.

"She said she wanted to thank him for killing that demon: Varogrog... Varog? Whatever its name was." Natsu chimed in.

"What demon? And what do you mean she wants to thank him? That's a stone?" Lucy looked at each of them, her eyes demanding and confused.

"The demon that Gray- wait, hang on, you guys don't know yet do you?" Lyon asked.

Erza, Lucy, and Wendy all shook their heads.

Lyon sighed.

"Wait, you know what happened?" Erza asked.

"Well, yes, Gray told me."

"He told you, but not us?" Lucy narrowed her eyes at the man, "Why?"

"Well that's because... here, I'll just explain from the beginning. Things have come so far I don't think keeping this a secret anymore is going to do any good."

So, Lyon retold Gray's story for the second time.

"And that's all he told you?" Erza asked.

"That was it. He didn't go it much detail and I didn't press him to. He seemed so tired when he came to me."

"Why would he tell you and not any of us?" Lucy asked, "It's not that I don't think you two are close, it's just that-" her words trailed off.

"Don't worry, I get it." Lyon reassured her, "Gray felt more comfortable talking to me because his memories of me were more or less still the same."

"Just you?" Erza questioned.

Lyon shrugged, "It seems the enemies he fought were more interested in destroying what he remembered of Fairy Tail and nothing else."

"What are all you humans doing in here!" Poliusia's interrupted them, "The patient's not going to have a very peacful rest with you all jabbering next to him."

"Poliusica-san." Wendy ran up to the old healer, "Natsu and Lyon think that they might have found something that can help Gray."

"Oh," the woman looked over at them speculatively, "And what did you find."

"This!" Natsu proudly held up the stone.

The healer looked at it, the looked back up at Natsu.

"Well, aren't you going to explain it."

"Oh, right, um..."

"It's part of the final remains of the great healer Parsptomies." Lyon spoke up.

"What?" Polusica's mouth fell open and her eyes grew wide, her hand flew out and she snatched the stone away from Natsu and brought it up close to her face.

"Is this really it?" she asked.

"Well... yes." Lyon said hesitantly, a bit taken aback by her reaction, "I take it you've heard of her?"

"Indeed, I have. I've spent many years studying her methods, at least, what little of her recorded teachings were still around."

"So you are a practicing healer to then?"

The old woman nearly fell over as the stone suddenly started to speak.

"Y-y-you can still talk Parsptomies?" she stammered out.

"Indeed, I can."

"I'm really confused now." Lucy admitted, "What is this rock exactly?"

"Explinations can be given later." Erza commanded. She stepped over to the stone, "What we need now is to find out if you can heal Gray or not Parsptomies-san."

"Yes, where is this Gray, I very much would like to meet him."

Poliusica silently walked over to the bed and held the stone close to his chest.

"This is Gray, unfortunately, he his uncontcious right now so you'll have to wait to speak with him."

"This is the man that killed the demon Velrog?"

"He is." Lyon answered.

"And he was injured in that fight?"

"Well yes, but that's not the entire problem." Poliusica said, "His memories have been changed and he's also been infected with a harmful magic. It's probably from this demon you speak of.

"Place the stone on him so I can examine him." she commanded.

The old woman obliged then stood back and waited. There was no light or feel of energy or anything to indicate the stone was doing anything. Time ticked on and they continued to stare it as seemingly nothing happening.

"Is she really doing anything?" Natsu whispred.

"Hush." Poliusia hissed.

Natsu shut his mouth and took a few steps back from the woman.

"I have finished." the soft voice spoke again after a few seconds, "I have unraveled what the problem is but the solution will take a bit longer to figure out. Poliusica was it? I will need your help from here on out."

"I will be glad to assist." the old woman replied with a small smile.

"Does this mean you've agreed to help him?" Lyon asked.

"It does though I cannot say yet if I can fully heal him, a lot of the outcome will depend on Gray himself and on you, his friends."

"What do we have to do?" Lucy asked.

"I will need more power than what is contained in this stone. There are a few other bits of me that have been scattered about. Two more should be enough. I'll send two of you to the closest ones, since time of the essance. Who will go?"

"I'll go!" Natsu stepped forward.

"I will go as well." Erza also volunteered.

"Very well then."

She quickly gave them their directions and whatever and the information they might need. Then they were on their way as quicly as they could.

"I may need help from the rest of you later." she spoke again, "But I cannot say what that is yet. For now, I will begin a further investigation."

This time, Poliusica didn't need to yell at them, they left without no comment. Lyon's gaze followed Juvia as she stood up and walked out. she had been so quiet throughout the conversation that he had forgotten that she was there. She had only sat and stared at Gray throughout the whole thing. He walked up to her, his eyes full of concern.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

She shook her head, "Juvia cannot be all right until she knows that Gray-sama is."

"He will be." He replied firmly, "Gray's too stubborn to let this stop him.

* * *

A/N: Marry Christmas everbody!


	9. We'll Remember for You

Chapter 9: We'll Remember for You

* * *

"Why'd I have to go and volunteer?" Natsu groaned as he stepped onto a train for the second time that day.  
He settled into one of the seats and tried to get as comfortable as he could to make the trip a little less torturous. He closed his eyes and prepared himself.

"I better get a huge thank you from Gray after this is over." He muttered under his breath just before his stomach did a somersault as the train started moving.

* * *

Lucy breathed in deep and let out a heavy sigh.

"I feel so useless just sitting here waiting. I should have gone with Natsu or Erza. At least I could have helped Natsu with his motion sickness."

"But didn't Parsptomies say that Gray might need our help? He'll need at least some of his friends by his side." Wendy said in an effort to encourage her.

"I understand that I just can't stand the waiting." Lucy's gaze wandered towards the infirmary door. "How long has it been?"

"An hour and ten minutes," Lyon muttered.

The ice mage looked even more agitated than the blond. Lucy glanced over at him. He was leaning against one of the guild's wooden pillars and tapping his foot agitatedly against the floor. Juvia was sitting down on the opposite side of the pillar with her back resting against it and her knees curled up to her chest. She barely moved and Lucy hoped more for her sake than for anyone else's that Gray would be okay.

She was just about to go over and say something to her friend when the door to the guild doors swung open. She looked up hopefully, thinking it to be either Natsu or Erza.

"Man, I need a drink!" Cana wailed as she dragged herself into the hall.

The card mage looked around for a second then her eyes narrowed as she realized that everyone was giving her an odd look.

"Why are you guys all looking at me like that?" she questioned.

"You haven't heard about what happened to Gray have you?" Mira approached her.

"What happened to Gray?"

Cana's eyes suddenly widened in a slight panic as the worst case scenario popped into her head.

"He's not dead is he?"

"No." Mira hastily corrected, "He's just… well, I'm not exactly sure."

"I think I can explain it." Lucy motioned for her friend to come sit with her.

Mira brought the woman a drink and she began to gulp it down as Lucy began the story. As he progressed further in, Cana's drinking slowed. When she got the part about his wounds reopening she set the drink down and didn't touch it until the end.

Lucy could see that something was building up behind the card mage's eyes as she spoke. She hastily explained that Lyon and Natsu had found something that could help Gray, but that didn't seem to comfort her friend very much.

"I could tell something was up with him, but I didn't think it was this bad," Cana muttered tactlessly.

"Natsu was the first one to notice." Lucy said softly, "I think everyone could tell, but for some reason, he didn't want to let anyone know about it, except for Lyon."

"Lyon?" Cana glanced over at the ice mage as if seeing him for the first time, "What did Gray tell you?" There was a strange tone to her voice that made her sound almost threatening.

"Basically, what you know now." Came the curt reply, "And a few other things"

"Oh, like what?"

There was something in Cana's tone and the way she looked ready to pounce on Lyon that made Lucy grab the woman by the arm and hold her down.

"None of your business," Lyon muttered, glaring down at his foot as it tapped against the floor. He glared at it as if commanding it to stop. It slowed down for a few seconds before the tapping ceased.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm Gray's friend too you know!" Cana nearly yelled back, abruptly standing to her feet, and bringing Lucy with her.

Lucy looked into Cana's eyes that were narrowed at Lyon. She looked at Lyon who was staring at his foot like he was contemplating cutting it off

A small panic set in her heart as she realized that they were both near their snapping point. Her gripped tightened on Cana as she tried to pull her back down. Her mind raced as she tried to come up with the best thing to say that would calm the both of them down.

"I know you're both worried but will you two please calm down. Fighting's not going to help Gray."

The quiet murmur came from Juvia.

Cana's expression fell as she looked at the broken looking water mage. She breathed a heavy sigh and sat down. Lyon didn't turn his head but his features softened. He shifted his feet for a few moments as if trying to find a more comforitable position before he too sank to the floor.

They sat in silence for after that. Cana finished the rest of her drink then ordered another. After the second bottle was finished Lucy requested that she stop since they might need her to be sober depending on what happens next.

The blond pulled out her keys and began to fiddle with them. She wondered if any of her spirits could help in any way. Leo maybe, Parsptomies did say that Gray would need the help of his friends and those two seemed pretty close.

Wendy pulled Carla into her lap and stroked the cat's fur. Happy went over and sat next to Juvia. He nudged her with his paw but she didn't respond.  
Thirty and a half minutes passed before the door to the infirmary creaked open and the old healer stepped out.

Everyone's gaze turned to her.

"We've come up with something and knowing the tenacity of Fairy Tail mage's, It'll probably work." She announced.

"What is it?" Lucy eagerly asked, a hopeful smile spreading across her face.

The healer motioned for them to follow then turned and walked back into the room. Lyon, Juvia, Wendy, Happy, Carla, Cana, and Lucy hurried inside. Poliusica shut the door after they were in so the place didn't become overcrowded with worried faces.

All gazes turned to the one occupied bed in the room. To their surprise, the patient was sitting up with open eyes.  
"Gray-sama!" Juvia exclaimed and rushed to him.

"Wait!" Poliusica warned, but the water mage was already focusing all her senses on one thing.

She smiled at the ice mage and looked into his story blue eyes.

"How is Gray-sama feeling?" she asked softly.

Gray blinked at her but said nothing. Juvia's smile fell. She leaned a bit forward to get a closer look at the man. Gray eyes were fixed on her but showed no sign of actually seeing her. His muscles on his face were relaxed so that he showed no expression. When Juvia took a moment to look deeper into his eyes they reflected back about as much life as a dead man.

The water mage let out a shuttering gasp.

"I told you to wait!" the old healer pushed Juvia aside and stood between her and Gray.

"What's going on? Lucy asked, "What did you do to Gray?"

"Yeah, why does he look like an undead corpse?" Cana asked as she poked her head out from behind Lucy.

"This is what Parsptomies and I came up with," Poliusica explained, gesturing Gray. "We put him under... he's in..." the healer struggled to explain, "Well I guess the best way to describe it is a sort of hypnotic trance. That's is why he's awake but not responsive. He's perfectly fine like this and we can easily get him out of it."

Juvia stepped passed the old woman and held out her hand as if she wanted to touch Gray but stopped a few inches away and drew back.

"How will putting Gray-sama in this state help him get his memories fixed?" she asked softly, looking away from Gray for the first time since entering the room and directing her full attention on the healer.

Poliusica looked her in the eyes then turned and stared into the faces of everyone in the room. "With the ice mage like this, his mind is now under Parsptomies control and demon's magic will have very little effect on him. Like this he can't think or remember anything, the only thing he can do is receive information. That is where you all come in. You will tell me who he is and who you are. From there Parsptomies will do the rest. The information you give will be used to heal his distorted memories."

"So you've basically just turned him into a blank slate for us to write on?" Cana inquired.

The card mage strode forward to get a closer look at the enchanted man.

"Yes, but you must make absolutely sure that you don't tell him anything that isn't true or Parsptomies won't be able to completely heal him." the healer warned, giving the woman a stern look.

"Yeah, I get that. Where is that rock anyway? You've got me curious, I just have to see it now."

"It's right next to Gray-sama." Juvia said and pointed to where the rock lay on the bed next to Gray's right hip.

Cana cocked her head at the rock.

"It's really shiny." she commented.

"We have more pressing matters then commenting on my appearance."

"And it talks!" Cana grinned.

"Please take this seriously." Lucy muttered under her breath, "You're being just about as bad as Natsu." she shook her head, feeling a little bit relieved that her friend was acting more like herself yet uneasy as something still felt off about her.

"Enough!" Parsptomies commanded.

Everyone fell silent and directed their attention to the stone.

"I am already using a large amount of my power to keep Gray in this state. It won't last long. Pray that your other two friends return soon with more of me. Right now we cannot waste the power that I have here. You need to begin the process of remembering now. Start with where the corrupted memories begin; when Gray first became a member of Fairy Tail."

Parstomies voice faded away. They all waited in silence for a few seconds, taking a moment to process their thoughts.  
"I guess it starts with me then," Cana said, her tone finally matching the atmosphere in the room.

"That's right. You were already a member before Gray joined weren't you?" Wendy said looking up at the card mage then over at Gray. "I guess the rest of us won't be able to help for a while yet." she sighed, looking down in disappointment."

Carla shook her head in frustration, "I had a feeling we were making a mistake when we sent Erza and Natsu away. They've know Gray the longest after Cana. We should have sent someone else instead."

"It would have beaten standing around here and being useless." Lyon growled out his frustrations."  
"Don't run off just yet. Gray still might need you." Lucy said.

"Hey, I'm still here!" Happy spoke up, feeling indignant at being forgotten, "I've know Gray almost as long as Natsu."

"And don't forget the other guild members that are here." Cana added, "Makow and Wakaba have been around longer than me."

"Yeah, but isn't it best to keep the people to a minimum?" Lucy asked, "People remember things differently and if we have too many it could get confusing."

"You are correct," Parsptomies interrupted. "In fact, it would be best if you have only one person relaying memories to Gray for each stage in his life. The rest of you should leave now so Cana can begin."

"Can Happy stay?" Cana asked, "It was so long ago, I might need help remembering some parts."

"Very well, but the rest should leave, too many stimuli will only make this more difficult."

They all reluctantly left, leaving only Happy and Cana in the room with Gray.

Cana took in a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. She then moved and took a chair next to Gray's bedside, Happy followed and sat down at Gray's feet. Gray was still sitting upright, his back propped up against the headboard, looking as lifeless as when they first came in.

"Why'd you want me to come?" Happy asked, "Is it because all that drinking as messed up your memories too."

Cana shook her head. "No, I just..." she began but stopped herself, she took in another breath and sighed again, "I just don't think I can be alone with Gray, not when he's like this." she gestured at the ice mage and suppressed a shudder as she glanced into his lifeless eyes.

"Hurry and begin and your friend's liveliness will return to him." Parsptomies urged her.

"Okay, Okay." Cana through up her hands in impatience.

She looked at Gray then opened her mouth to say something, then shut it. Her head fell and she cradled it in her hands. "How do I even start?" She wondered aloud.

"Tell him who you are. Then start from the beginning." Parstomies prompted.

"The beginning." she murmured to herself then slowly raised her head, a look of determination on her face.


	10. Stories and Bargaining

Chapter 10: Stories and Bargaining

* * *

Erza poked her head out of the carriage window to get a better look at the landscape. Her destination was an old farm house. She should be coming up on it soon.

"There." She hollered out when she spotted it. "That house over there, driver."

"That one?" the driver pointed.

"Yes. Hurry."

The driver sped the pace up then came to a halt in front of the house. He then got out and moved to open the door for his passenger. Erza swung the carriage door open, hitting the man square in the nose.

"Thank you for your trouble." Erza nodded to him, not even noticing the injury she had delt him.

She fished through her wallet and handed him a more than acceptable amount of jewels for the ride. Forgetting his pain the man took the money and happily left.

Erza made a dash for the house and nearly kicked down the door before she stopped herself.

"What am I doing? This isn't an enemies hideout."

She lowered her raised foot and firmly knocked three times. Inside she could hear the creaking of boards. The door was opened by a gray-haired woman about a head shorter than her. She was wearing a long skirted dress and slippers.

"Good afternoon." Erza greeted.

The old lady smiled at her. "Well hello, there deary. I don't get much visitors here these days. What can I do for you."

"My friend is hurt and in critical condition. I was told that there was a stone here that could help heal him."

The lady cocked her head in puzzlement.

"You know, a shiny stone that can heal; a healing stone." Erza tried again.

A light suddenly went on inside the woman's head. "Oh, the healing stone."

Erza's spirits lifted. "Yes, it would mean the world if you would give it to me?"

The didn't seem to even hear her as she was lost in thought, "Yes, the healing stone, it's a long story; a very long story. It all started the day my dear husband asked me to marry him. It was the 15th of August when he brought me out to hill out by the lack and we had a picknick underneath the willow tree."

"That sounds like an interesting story, but I'm in a hurry and all I need is the stone. Can you tell me where it is." Erza interrupted, trying to keep her impatience under control.

"Where what is?" the woman looked up at her in confusion.

"The healing stone."

"Oh yes, the healing stone, it's a long story; a very long story. It started the day my dear husband, Jeffery, proposed to me-"

Erza's hand flew over the woman's mouth.

"Tell me where the healing stone is now!" she ordered.

The woman blinked at her then smiled.

"Oh, the healing stone, that's a long story, a very long story, it all started the day my Jeffery asked me to be his bride."

Erza gave up then and pushed passed the woman into the house and began looking for the stone herself. The lady continued her story, not carrying that her home was being invaded.

* * *

"We were stuck up in that tree waiting for the Volcans to leave for hours. Laxus was the one that finally came and rescued us, though he complained about it the whole time he was doing it. This was back before he learned proper social skills. Oh, who am I kidding, the guy still doesn't know how to hold a normal conversation."

Cana snickered at her own dry humor. Her brief moment of mirth quickly faded when she glanced over at the unresponsive Gray. Normally Gray would have been laughing with her, and probably replied with his own witty comment. They always did have a similar sense of humor, except for the terrible puns he'd come up with. Cana doubted that even Juvia would admit to finding them funny.

"Cana?"

"Huh?" The card mage glanced over at Happy who was looking at her worriedly.

"You spaced out there for a moment. Is everything okay?"

"I was just remembering something." She said casually.

"But you're supposed to be remembering things out loud remember, so Gray can remember them too."

"I know, I didn't forget." Cana said, letting a touch of irritation creep into her tone, "Now where were we?"

"I don't know." Happy said with a sigh, "You still haven't gotten to the part where I was born in so I can't help you remember."

Cana scrunched up her nose as she tried to remember. It was so many years ago and all the alcohol intake didn't really help the memory.

"I think were just about to when Natsu joined the guild."

"So tell him that story. You were there right?"

Cana looked from Happy over to Gray. His lifeless eyes seemed to be digging into her, passed her skin and bones. A shiver went down her spine and she grimaced. She needed to get out of this room, if even for just a few seconds. She stood to her feet and made for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I need a drink before we can continue this." She grumbled back.

"Won't that make it harder to remember?"

"Just one drink isn't going to affect me." She replied just as she exited the room.

Happy waited in silence for a few moments then let out a heavy sigh.

"Is any of this even working?" he wondered aloud.

"Yes." came the short reply from Parsptomies.

He looked over at the stone, hope and surprise shimmering in his big eyes.

"How can you tell?" he eagerly probed.

"It is going very slowly, but I'm picking up fragments of Gray's broken memories that are still intact and piecing them together. Once I get enough I'll be able to use them to fix the rest of what Velrog has corrupted."

Happy turned his attention back to Gray. He stood to his feet and crawled along Gray's chest till he was nose to nose with the ice mage. He stared into his eyes for a long moment. Slowly, his lips curved into a smile.

"I think I can see it too. He looks more like himself now, if just a little bit."

The door swung open and Cana stepped back into the room, a bottle in both hands. She glanced over at Happy an arched an eyebrow at his odd behavior.

"Are you going to kiss him or something?" she wondered, "I don't think that's what's going to heal his memories, Happy. That only happens in Fairy Tails, and I doubt you're Gray's true love."

Happy took several quick hopes back, a look of pure disgust written on his face. Kissing Natsu was bad enough, no way was he kissing Gray too.

Cana snickered at him as she sat back down.

"Okay let's get this going again." she muttered unenthusiastically before taking a huge swig.

She dove into her vision of Natsu's first arrival at Fairy Tail and went over the basics of his personality and quirks. She explained Gray's and Natsu's relationship in detail.

"You guys fought all the time. At first, the guild tried to make you get along or to at least try get to the bottom of why you seemed to hate each other so much, but after a while we just let you two do your thing. Well... at least most of us did; Erza still insisted you two get along and you would always pretend to be best buddies whenever she was around for fear of getting your heads smashed in." she pushed her chair back and sighed, "What I wouldn't give to see you two fighting like normal now, instead of sitting here waiting for you to heal."

"Cana!" Parsptomies suddenly interrupted, raising her voice to something much less gentle.

"What?" the card mage asked, instantly on full alert.

"I'm running out of power. I need to tell you something before it's all gone. It may take a while before Erza or Natsu come back with more of me. Until they get back I need you to-"

The ancient heal's voice suddenly stopped and the soft glow from her rock faded.

"What?" Cana yelled, jumping to her feet "You need me to do what?"

But it was too late. Gray's lifeless eyes slowly closed and he fell into a light slumber.

Cana Grimaced and exchanged a worried glance with Happy.

"Natsu, please hurry." Happy whispered in a helpless plea.

* * *

"Finally!" Natsu sighed when the heard the screech of train brakes.

As soon as the train came to a complete stop he made a beeline for the door.

"Parsptomoris or whatever her name was said that the stone was at a magic shop," he muttered to himself as he began searching the streets. After running around seven blocks and interrogating a guy for directions he found the place; a tiny establishment squeezed between an all you can eat grill and a barber shop.

Natsu ignored the tempting aroma coming from the grill and stepped inside. He went straight to the checkout point and slammed his palms down on the counter, nearly startling the pants off of the cashier who had his nose stuck in an issue of Sorcerer Weekly.

"I'm in a hurry," Natsu growled, sticking his face right up next to the guy's nose. He was a middle-aged man wearing close that were two sizes too big, had an overgrown mustache and smelled of grease. "My idiot commrade has gotten himself in a mountain of trouble and I need the magical healing stone that's in your shop somewhere, so get to it."

The man's face turned from shock to glee in about a nanosecond.

"A magic healing stone you say?" he asked as a devilish grin spread across his face.

"Yes." Natsu nodded, not yet noticing the man's change in attitude.

"And I take it you really, really need one?" he asked, putting emphasis on the second 'really'

"Yes, And I'm in a hurry."

"Of course. I'll be right back."

The man disappeared into the back of the store. Natsu waited for a minute and forty-seven seconds before he followed the man.

"What are you doing!" He screamed at him, "Employees only back here."

"Well, the hurry it up!" Natsu yelled as he retreated back behind the counter.

The man emerged a minute later holding the stone. He placed it on the counter then grinned up at Natsu, showing two full rows of perfectly white teeth.

"That will be seven 1,000,000 jewel."

Natsu reached for his wallet and opened it to see how much he had on him. He only had about 10,000 jewel on him. He started to panic a little, thinking that he was going to have to run all the way back home for more. Then it dawned on him how much the man was actually asking for. That was more than enough to pay Lucy's rent for a whole year if his math was right. He wasn't even sure if he had that much saved up. He looked back at the man and could see him trying to hide a smirk.

"I see what your game is now. Ha ha, very funny. Now tell me what the real price is." Natsu's voice dripped with sarcasm and impatience.

"What game?" the man feigned confused innocence. "That's the real price. Do you know how rare healing magic is? If you don't want it then leave. I hope you find some other way to save your friend."

Natsu reached out, reading to take the man by the throat, but stopped himself. He drew his hand away and settle with baring his teeth and letting smoke pour from his mouth.

"I'm not leaving here without that stone. You better drop the price down buddy if you don't want to know the terror of facing a dragon slayer."

The man crossed his arms and gave Natsu a blank look, completely unfazed by the threat.

"Go ahead and try. The second you do I'll be reporting this to the magic council."

"Like those guys scare me." Natsu chuckled.

"Fine, go ahead. You don't scare me."

A few years ago Natsu would have jumped on the guy by now and snatched the stone right out of his hands. But the Natsu of today had learned a thing or two about bargaining since then. And it was now that that knowledge finally came back to him.

He let his threatening demeanor fall back to his natural expression then turned and began to slowly walk away. He took about two steps before the man spoke up.

"Hey, I'm not a heartless man; I wouldn't want my high prices to cause someone's death. I'll drop it down to 800,000."

Natsu kept walking.

"700,000."

One more step.

"500,000."

Two.

"400,000."

Three.

"300,000."

His hand was on the door.

"200,000 and I won't go any lower than that." the man insisted.

Natsu stopped and turned his head slightly.

"I only have 10,000 on me."

The man said nothing to this.

"I can bring the rest back later."

"And how do I know you'll actually come back."

Natsu turned fully around now and strode back up to the counter, his jaw set and eyes narrowed.

"I'm a member of Fairy Tail and we always keep our promises."

The man shook his head, "Not good enough. I need some kind of collateral. Your word counts for nothing to me."

Natsu glanced down at himself, trying to think of anything valuable he might have on him. The most valuable thing he had on hand was his wallet, at least momentarily. The thing he most valued was his scarf but he knew the shop owner cared for squat about that. But maybe... He stared at the white fabric around his neck for a long moment before gently taking it off and offering it to the man.

"A crummy old muffler?" He asked in disgust, "You've got to be joking."

"This is a present my Father gave to me before he disappeared, I've always warned it since then and it's the most valuable thing to me that I own. There's nothing on this planet that would stop me from coming back for it."

The man looked Natsu in the eye and studied him for a long moment before shrugging and taking the dragon slayers most prized possession.

He wordlessly handed him the stone and Natsu took it with a nod of thanks.

"Don't let anything happen to it." he growled out one last warning before running out the door.

He had only taken a few steps down the sidewalk before Parsptomies' voice began ringing in his head.

"Natsu, thank goodness you found me. You need to get back as soon as possible."

"I was already doing that," Natsu assured her. "Is there really a need to remind me?"

"The stone that was left at the Guild has run out of power. You or Erza need to get back before Gray wakes up. If Gray wakes up before you get there then him and the rest of his friends back there will be in danger."

"Give me the details on the way," Natsu ordered before breaking into a run. That was all he needed to her. Determination now doubled, he spread through the city like wide fire.


End file.
